


the difference between living and surviving

by sheriffandsteel



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Found Family, Pregnancy, Smut, Zombie Apocalypse, bethyl, canon divergence after episode 4.12 'Still', this was originally a one-shot so literally the opposite of a slowburn, trigger warning: mentions of past child abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:15:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 117,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23865868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sheriffandsteel/pseuds/sheriffandsteel
Summary: Unable to find any other survivors Beth and Daryl head out alone and begin to learn how one can bear to live in this new world.
Relationships: Daryl Dixon/Beth Greene
Comments: 34
Kudos: 167





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story was originally posted on fanfiction.net back in 2014. I am finally moving it over here! When I first posted this it was intended to be a oneshot but enough people encouraged me to keep writing it that it bloomed into way more. Because it was meant to be a oneshot it is the opposite of a slowburn which is very strange for any of my multichapter fics. 
> 
> The full story is still up on fanfiction.net if you want to read ahead but beware of the typos! It was posted without a beta reader and boy does it show. I’m editing the chapters as I post this over here.

The dry rustling of the leaves under their feet slightly slowed their progress. The sound was common in the woods these days, ever since the season changed and the trees lost their coverings. Any creature that moved caused the dry leaves to crackle and crunch underfoot and while that alerted Beth and Daryl to other creatures' presence, it also it alerted those same creatures to theirs. 

As such, their aimless wanderings through the woods did not get them as far as they used to. In summer they would walk for tens of miles on end, the cover of the woods hiding them from the hot sun. Once the leaves fell and the cold set in, they found they could not cover the same distance. Walking burned away the cold but the leaves only brought more walkers to them. 

They had been walking through woods for what seemed years to Beth. For weeks they hunted for any sign of other survivors from the prison. They scoured the woods for tracks until their own footprints were all that could be found. By unspoken agreement they never went back to the train tracks, not after finding the remains. After a while they gave up on finding anyone else. They had to have been the only two to make it out alive and stay alive. The day they turned north, away from the prison for the last time, Beth expected to cry, to feel something about finally admitting to herself that everyone she loved was gone. Instead all she felt was relief. As they trudged through woods suddenly unfamiliar to her she felt a weight lift off of her shoulders now that they had finally stopped searching for people they had both known for a while that they would never find. 

The days grew shorter and colder as they made their way. They stuck to the woods, both more comfortable in the trees and wilderness than they would be in a house. When they began to see their breath in the mornings they decided that they should start looking for a place to spend the winter. They went to many places: houses, stores, restaurants. None of them had been suitable enough to spend an extensive amount of time in so they kept moving through the woods. Sometimes Beth thought that the reason they didn't stay somewhere wasn't because it was too dirty or too hard to defend but because it still felt too close to the prison: to the past and the ghosts they were both still running away from. 

Trudging through an ankle-deep pile of crumbling brown leaves Beth brushed her tangled hair out of her eyes and stared up through the tree line. The sky was a light gray, not with dusk which was hours away, but with clouds that could only mean the first snow of the year. 

She was so enraptured with the sky that she nearly ran into Daryl when he stopped before her. Her hand fell on her knife hilt she scanned the woods for walkers. Seeing none she looked up at Daryl inquisitively. He pointed to their left where, if she strained her eyes, she could just make out a flash of red. 

"Barn?" she whispered not even having to think to keep her voice low. Talking in whispers had become second nature to the both of them. 

"Could be." He muttered, stepping in the direction of the building and tightening his grip on his crossbow. "C'mon Greene." 

Minutes later they crouched behind the last of the tree line and surveyed the area in front of them. A tiny red shed stood close by with a small one-story farmhouse in front of it. Acres spread out in front of it, clear of trees and overrun with dead crops that were never harvested. Beth felt a stab of remorse at seeing so much wasted food. There were pens where animals used to be kept, empty now with a gate swinging mournfully in the breeze. Beth felt a twinge of homesickness, memories of the farm where she had spent her childhood threatening to overwhelm her. 

"It’s clear of walkers." she whispered once she could control her voice. 

Daryl looked at her, his brow crinkled. "You okay?" 

Beth knew that he wasn't just asking if she was okay right now, but if she would be okay to stay the winter here. The memories were fighting hard against her mental wall, a snippet of Shawn's laughter made it through. She grabbed the laughter and tucked it lovingly behind the wall once more as she straightened her spine. "It’s as good a place as any." 

He was still staring at her, his blue eyes piercing into hers as if he could smell the lie on her breath. She stared back at him with her jaw set resolutely until he conceded with the slightest nod of his head. "Let's check out the inside. C'mon." 

They crept slowly towards the back porch of the house where they stopped and listened with baited breath. Minutes ticked by without any noise but the harsh sound of their own breathing. Slowly easing open the door Daryl looked inside before beckoning Beth to follow him. As she shut the door behind them, they were plunged into total darkness. Daryl muttered a swear under his breath before he lit one of their few matches that he kept in his pocket. The small flame told Beth the darkness was due to the boards covering the back windows. Candles rested on a table next to the door and Daryl quickly lit two of them, passing one to her. Beth frowned as she took it from him, fighting one handed was not ideal. 

Her worries proved to be for nothing. The small house did not take them very long to clear. There were only four rooms: kitchen, bathroom, front room and bedroom. The place was devoid of life; living or reanimated. They were lucky enough to not have any dead bodies to clear out either. Many of the other places they had stopped had not been so clean. 

"People must've left in a hurry." Daryl remarked as they took stock of the supplies they had now gained and he opened the kitchen cupboards on a ration of canned goods. 

"You don't think people are staying here and on their way back right?" Beth asked as she shook a blanket free of dust and wrapped it around her shoulders with a shiver. The inside of the house felt even colder than outside. 

"Nah, whole place is covered in dust. Ours are the only footprints, see?" Looking down she saw his point, their tracks crisscrossed over each other on the dirty floor. "This place is pretty isolated too. First thing we've seen in days. Hard place to just stumble upon, we should be alright here." he continued, still counting the cans before him. 

"So," Beth began as she moved to open another cupboard and found an assortment of boxed products, she nearly began drooling at the sight of a box of penne noodles. Grabbing them she turned to Daryl with one of the first smiles she'd worn in a long time. It felt unfamiliar on her face as she asked him, "Home sweet home?" 

With a grin of his own he swiped the box from her hand. "Home sweet home." 

Cooking the pasta was laborious work as they not only had to clear out the fireplace but build a hot enough fire, find a pan they could actually put in the fire, boil the water and then wait for the noodles to cook. Eating the noodles though made every grueling instant of it worth it. 

"God, I missed carbohydrates." Beth sighed contently leaning back against the armchair where Daryl sat and closing her eyes in bliss. "I could die happy right now." 

Daryl snorted. "I've never missed a food so much I'd die for it." 

"I never said I'd die _for_ it." she said opening her eyes for the sole purpose of rolling them. Biting her lip she stared down at what was left in the ceramic bowl in her hands. "But I probably would die for these they're so good. Point for you." 

"That puts me at what? Fifty-four? Damn Greene you need to catch up." 

Beth slapped his shin lightly as she leaned her head against his knee and closed her eyes as the two fell into a companionable silence. 

Once they left the woods around the prison they had become a quiet pair. Some of it was out of necessity, they were in unfamiliar territory and did not want to draw the attention of anything living or dead to them. Most of it though was out of sadness. The duo retreated into themselves as they walked, their thoughts still at the prison with the people they were in the process of mourning. They did not break this silence for over a week until they left the woods to gather supplies at a gas station they passed. As she was scanning the shelves Beth found a shot glass boldly pronouncing in neon letters, 'South Carolina'. The sight of it reminded Beth of the disastrous game of 'I never' her and Daryl had once played so she tossed it to him. 

"Looks like you can't use your Georgia one anymore." 

That night as they lay on the hard-packed earth of the woods Beth was almost asleep when Daryl's voice broke the still air. 

"I've never been to a high school football game." his voice was so quiet Beth thought she imagined it. For a moment she was confused by the randomness of the statement but then she remembered the shot glass and the game that it had reminded her of. It appeared Daryl had remembered it as well. 

"I've never smoked a cigarette." she whispered in response before she drifted off to sleep. 

And thus, their silence was broken and their game began. It took a while for them to truly break out of their grief but even if they went all day without exchanging a word, at the end of the night they always whispered something they had never done. After a while a points system was created. If one of them said something that the other person had not done than they lost a point. If they said something that the other had done, they gained a point. On the other side, if they had done what the other person hadn't, they lost a point and if they hadn't done what the other said they gained one. The highest score was the winning score. 

Keeping score was a tough matter as neither bothered with writing it down and some nights they forgot to redo their tally. Either way, they both were well aware that Daryl was constantly in the lead. Not only was he better at coming up with things he had never done he also knew how to aim them at something Beth was likely to have done. She was not so talented and the fiasco that had come after she had mentioned jail was still fresh in her mind even after months had passed. She would guess more generic things that it would turn out Daryl had never done either so she was constantly losing points. At one time she had even been in the negative numbers and digging her way out of that one was painful. She would spend all day staring at Daryl's back as they moved through the woods trying to come up with something, _anything_ , that would get her a point. More often than not it didn't work. 

"Greene. Greene. Beth c'mon." Daryl's voice broke through her haze of sleep and Beth blinked up at him in confusion. "We gotta secure this place for the night." 

Securing the house was easy as the windows were already boarded. There were only two doors, which surprisingly still had working locks. At Beth's suggestion they moved the couch in front of one door and a table in front of the other. When Daryl argued they might need to get out in a hurry she pointed out they could always go to the door that had less of a threat surrounding it or they could unboard a window to which he reluctantly agreed. The small window in the bathroom that was big enough for them both to fit through and high up enough that a walker couldn't break into became their escape route plan. 

As the snow finally began to fall outside they decided to move the mattress from the bedroom out to place it before the fire since the house was so cold in the other rooms their breath misted out in front of them. Even though she had slept next to Daryl every night since leaving the prison, slowly getting closer as the weather grew colder, Beth had to fight off a blush as she settled down on the thin mattress next to him. The house was not only stockpiled on preserved foods but also on blankets so they were each wrapped in their own collection of various covers. Feeling slightly as though she was in a cocoon Beth stared at the fire in front of her, Daryl having insisted that she take that side. Whether it was the intoxicating warmth or the pleasurable feeling of a full stomach, a bed, and a night of uninterrupted sleep stretching before her Beth felt herself brave enough to admit. "I've never shared a bed with a man I'm not related to." 

Daryl was silent for a moment before answering, "Point for you. I've never been proud of anyone I’m related too." 

Her family’s faces danced across her lids as Beth closed her eyes. "Point for you." 

The days grew even shorter and ever colder. They had stumbled upon the house at the best moment because the snow fell for two days as they settled in. Using left over snow gear in the shed (where they found a veritable gold mine of hardware, tools, farming equipment and winter gear) Daryl hunted them fresh meat to freeze as they settled in for winter. While he hunted Beth went through the seeds left in the shed and read through one of the self-help farming books she found in the house or gathered wood to use for the fire. Neither of them mentioned it but as days passed the idea of being out in the woods again grew more and more distasteful. Being able to sleep on a warm bed in front of a warm fire, with full bellies and not having to look over their shoulder every second began to shake them from their quiet cages. 

Neither had been the most talkative person before the outbreak and getting used to talking at anything above a whisper took them time but they began to exchange words and stories outside of their nightly 'I never'. Beth found herself telling Daryl stories she had once deemed too embarrassing to be told aloud, such as the story of her first kiss. In return he regaled her with tales of the antics he got into with his brother. As winter took force outside, growing colder every day, inside they began to warm up to each other. 

Like the previous winter the cold slowed the walkers down. Only twice in what Beth assumed to be five weeks since they got to the house, did they have a walker stumble close enough to be a threat enough to have to kill it. Daryl's assumption that the house was too isolated to be found proved correct as no living person made it through the deepening snow to them. 

The short days began to drag on, filled with nothing but mundane tasks of gathering wood, water and meat. The house had only six books, which both of its new occupants read through quickly. Soon their only entertainment was each other and Beth found herself admitting more to Daryl than she had to even Maggie. She told him about how much she missed her family and the group from the prison, how she used to write her own songs. They once even had an hour-long conversation about how she wished she had tried coffee. Daryl began to open up to her more as well. He told her how sometimes he was glad the world went to shit because it was the first time in his life he felt like he could do something right, that he was actually worth anything. He told her how he had once dreamed of being the first person in his family to go to college but instead he never even finished high school. 

She couldn't pinpoint when it had happened but at some point during their stay Beth began to look at Daryl in a different light. She began to picture his face in her head the few hours a day when he wasn't with her. She would think of excuses to touch or bump into him. She even started to have daydreams about what it would be like to run her fingers through his hair or to kiss his lips. 

Sometimes she wanted to act on her desires and jump on him but she held back. Having no idea if he returned her feelings, she could not bear the thought that he would reject her and she would have to spend the rest of her life (no matter how short it might be) burning with that knowledge. Slowly an idea came to her and every night as they said their 'I never' she dared herself to do it but every night she chickened out. 

Finally, one night as the snow and wind howled outside, she couldn't take it anymore. Clutching her hands into fists in her blankets Beth dealt the only card she was left holding. "I've never had sex." In the silence that followed Beth pushed her embarrassment aside by congratulating her voice on not shaking. As the silence stretched on, she closed her eyes in disappointment. She began to understand her desire was one sided and was glad she hadn't thrown herself at him. Waiting for him to tell her she got a point she was surprised when she felt the mattress shift as Daryl pushed himself up onto his elbow beside her. 

"Really?" 

Her blue eyes snapped open and she rolled over to stare up at him where he lay propped over her. His brow was furrowed in either confusion or disbelief, Beth wasn't entirely too sure which. 

"Yes really. What did you think since the world ended, I'd just sleep with the first man who looked at me twice?" Beth kept her tone light but in reality, she had considered something like this. Jimmy had wanted to sleep with her but the one time they found themselves alone on the farm she found she couldn't do it. She had always wanted to wait until marriage and at that time she still thought the walkers could be cured and the government or military would save them. Once she realized that no one was going to save them she gave up on the idea of marriage but the thought of giving her virginity to just anyone felt wrong. Zach had never felt right either. He tried once, in the cell, but she merely reminded him her father was only one cement wall away and there weren't closed doors on the cells. In truth she had never truly romantically cared for either boy. With Jimmy she had felt pressured to continue the relationship. They had been on a few dates before the outbreak and once it hit, she felt too guilty to call it off no matter how much she wanted to. With Zach, as cruel as it seemed, she used him as a distraction. Whenever she was sad or confused by everything kissing him managed to curb her worries. 

"So, what, you waiting for marriage?" At first Beth thought that he was mocking her but then she realized that he wasn't smiling. Daryl was just actually curious. 

Her breath caught in her chest as she shook her head and tried to gain control over herself. Just because he hadn't brushed off her comment didn't mean anything. "I was just waiting for the right person." 

Daryl opened his mouth to say something before he shut it again with a deepening furrow of his brow. He looked down at her, his blue eyes reflecting the fire light. "You were waiting?" 

Cursing her mistake Beth tried to think of a way to explain her previous statement without telling him that she would willingly give her virginity to him. Before she could come up with something even vaguely coherent Daryl leaned over and pressed his lips to hers. 

Gasping into his mouth her brain went haywire at the feel of his mouth on hers. She couldn't move for a moment she was so floored by this unexpected response. Beth felt him begin to pull away from her and something inside clicked. Her arms wrapped around him pulling him down on top of her, her hands tangling into his hair as she tried to push some of the many blankets out of the way as the need to be closer to him nearly over powering her. 

Daryl seemed to be possessed by the same animalistic drive as he began to pull and shove the mess of blankets off of them. Finally free Beth felt the cold bite into her for only a brief second before Daryl's body rested over hers. Kissing him wasn't like any kiss she'd ever had. He tasted like the rabbit they'd ate for dinner and the fresh snow they used for water, his beard stubble scratched against her face and it was still the best kiss she'd ever experienced. 

Running her hands up his arms she found to her pleasure that his biceps were as hard as she had always imagined. She gasped into his mouth as his cold fingers brushed her waistline and he pulled away to tug off her shirt, leaving her bare from the waist up. His eyes roamed over her bare breasts in a way that should have made her blush but instead only made her smile. He moved to kiss her again but Beth caught his shirt in her fingers and tugged it off of him before she caught his mouth again. A shiver ran through her at the cold air but Daryl pulled one of the blankets over them, that and his warm body beat off the chill of the winter air. 

His hands ran over her torso slowly as though he was trying to imprint every inch of it in his mind. Her own hands moved freely over his back and chest, her fingers skimming the raised tissue of numerous scars. Part of her heart ached at the feel of them but then Daryl's hand cupped her breast and a different part of her ached. His fingers rolled her nipple slightly before he pulled away from her mouth to kiss a trail down her neck. Beth twisted her hands into his hair again as he took one of her nipples into his mouth. A small moan rose from her throat as he swirled his tongue over her before moving to do the same to her other breast. 

As he moved back up her chest to kiss her Beth hooked her fingers into the waist band of his jeans and pulled him closer to her. Her fingers shook slightly as she unbuttoned them and began to push them off his hips. Daryl caught her shaking hands in his own and pulled away from her. 

"We don't have to do this." his pupils were blown wide and his voice was far from controlled yet Daryl still looked ready to pull away at the slightest word from her. That knowledge only made her want him more. 

"No, but we want to." Beth placed her hand on the back of his neck and pulled him down to her but he resisted her. 

"We don't have protection." his voice held almost pain as he spoke this realization. 

"I haven't had my period in three months. The likelihood of me getting pregnant is pretty rare." Beth explained leaning up to close the distance between their mouths. 

"You really want to risk that?" Daryl asked lowering his head to rest against hers. 

Running her fingers down his face Beth whispered, "Every breath we take is a risk." 

Apparently run out of arguments Daryl kissed her again and helped her rid him of his jeans. Hers followed shortly after and she marveled at the feel of him pressing against her, even through their underwear. Kissing him slowly Beth removed his boxers, now with steady fingers. Daryl let out a hiss of breath as she wrapped her fingers around him. She had never felt a man like this before and as she moved her thumb over the tip of his penis and he let out a groan she smiled at the feel of power it gave her. 

As if he sensed the change in her Daryl moved his fingers to the waistband of her underwear slipping his fingers in slowly. It was her turn to gasp as his fingers moved slow circles against her nub and slowly slipped one finger inside her. Wrapping both her arms around him Beth kissed him deeper as he slid her underwear off her hips and tossed them behind him at the growing pile of clothes. Positioned at her entrance Daryl moved to look down at her. She ran her fingers down his face again as she nodded. 

As he slipped inside her she felt a brief sting of pain that made her bite her lip. He stilled for a moment as she adjusted to the feel of having him inside her. When she began to wriggle underneath him he bent down to kiss her again and slowly began to move inside of her. 

Daryl moved painfully slow at first, probably afraid that he was hurting her. When she whimpered for him to move faster he happily obliged. Soon they were both panting and Beth found herself glad this hadn't happened in the woods because they would surely have brought a horde of walkers down on them by now. It felt like it was over far too soon, she cried out his name and felt like she basically came unglued into his arms. He followed her not soon after having just enough sense of mind to finish on her leg and not inside of her. 

After cleaning themselves off they bundled their blankets together into one giant nest. Beth curled against his side as he ran his fingers through her hair softly. Smiling with contentment a thought occurred to her and Beth propped herself up on one arm to look down at him. 

"I got a point for my never right?" She asked with a sly grin. 

He opened his eyes to laugh at her. "You would have if your statement was still true." 

Beth's grin only widened as he looked up at her. "But it was true when I said it. So I got a point right?" 

Daryl rolled his eyes and leaned up to kiss her. "Yes you got a point. So now we're what, ninety-eight to thirty-six?" 

"Something like that." Beth said as she settled against his chest again. "It's your turn you know." 

There was a brief pause before Daryl spoke, his voice suddenly unsure. "I've never been in love." 

Beth was silent for a moment as she considered this. She had never been in love before either but she was beginning to question if she was in love now. She had always said that she would only ever sleep with someone that she loved and she had just slept with Daryl, that meant something to her. Besides she told him everything without fear of judgment and laying in his arms at that moment felt like the most natural thing in the world. Daryl made her feel safe while also making her feel strong. If this wasn't love than she had no idea what was. 

She propped herself back up on her elbow and looked down at him. "Point for you." Beth whispered her blue eyes searching his. 

Daryl smiled and reached up to brush a strand of hair behind her ear. "Hell who am I kidding?" he whispered. "Point for you too."


	2. Chapter 2

As slow as winter had seemed before he and Beth had coupled, afterward winter seemed to flash by. Days no longer dragged on with one mind numbing chore after the other but were now filled with stolen touches and learning the different aspects to one of her smiles. The isolated farmhouse proved to be as far off the beaten track as Daryl had expected, they saw no signs of any other human life. Even the walkers were hard to come by at first. 

But as the snow began to melt the walkers began to thaw. Every few days one or two would stumble upon the house and the pair would make quick work of dispatching them. Daryl used to be okay with letting them walk on by if they weren't going to be in the way of harming them or bringing more to them. What convinced him to end their death, life, whatever the hell it was, was Beth's instance that she would never want to end up like that. 

It was never like the time he tried to teach her how to use the crossbow, if that could even be called teaching. They did not do it out of malicious intent, it was a solemn affair stabbing the decaying creature through the head. There was one close call when Beth slipped on some ice and brought the walker down on top of her. In the seconds before his cross bolt went through the walker's skull Daryl felt his heart threaten to stop beating. 

It was strange, being with Beth. His whole life he had never had a steady female in his life. His mother was never exactly a role model and once she died, he only saw a string of his father's 'girlfriends'. As he grew older, he went through his own fair share of girls, always searching for someone or something to make him feel at ease. 

He had thought he had found it with Carol but as time passed, he found he only cared for her as a friend, a good friend, but he could not find it in him to string along women like he used to. He enjoyed her company; she was easy to get along with as were all the women in the prison group. He had always segregated himself from the women though. He wasn't always comfortable being around them as they were not like the doped-up girls from his past. When Beth and him had fled the prison, he had been terrified out of his mind the first time she had cried not knowing how to comfort any woman, let alone one so clearly heartbroken. 

But as time passed, and as Beth was not the type of person to stand by and watch him drown in sadness, he became more comfortable around her. Hell, he was in love with her. Realizing that had been almost as startling as the first time she hugged him. 

As they slowly began to explore each other and the house heated up, outside the world heated up with them. When the last of the snow melted, they decided to continue staying at the farmhouse, neither of them ready to leave its sanctuary for the uncertain world outside its borders. Beth put her farming knowledge to use and began planting seeds that had been left over by the previous owner and Daryl began building a better perimeter fence. It was easier now that the ground was no longer frozen solid. 

The ease with which they fell into their new life felt like it ought to surprise him but he felt as though he had been waiting forever to find this girl. 

One night they sat outside on the front porch in the warm spring air. Daryl sat on the top porch step with Beth on the one below him, leaning back against his chest as he worked his fingers through the tangles in her long blonde hair. 

Beth was frowning in concentration as she stared out at the clear land before them. "I've never." she paused, biting her lip, clearly not sure what to say. She was so bad at the game that it was almost funny watching her try to think of things. "Driven a motorcycle." she finally declared happily twisting her neck to grin up at him. 

Daryl snorted and rolled his eyes. "Point for you." he grumbled wrapping his arm around her and pulling her tighter to his chest. "Have you ever ridden one?" he asked curiously as she settled against him. Beth shook her head, her blonde ponytail hitting him lightly in the face. 

"No. What's it like?" she asked tilting her head to gaze up at his face. 

Daryl paused for a moment to think of a description. He was not as good with words as she was. Beth could describe places he had never been to so well he could close his eyes and not only see them but smell and hear them as well. 

"It's loud." he said finally. "There's nothing between you and the road so there's a bit of fear to it at first. It’s..." he paused searching for the right word. "Freeing." he settled on finally. There was a time when saying such a statement in front of someone else would have been unthinkable but not with Beth. He knew that whatever stupid thing he said she would never judge him for it, or think any less of him. 

Beth leaned her head against his chest again. "So, it's a bit like riding a horse?" 

Daryl shrugged. "Not really. You have complete control over the motorcycle. Not so with a horse." he explained thinking back on the last time he had ridden a horse. Her family's horse who had ended up tossing him and causing a lot more problems than the ride was worth. 

"Oh. I'd like to ride a motorcycle one day." she yawned suddenly and rested her arms on his knees. He took her hair in his hands again and began to play with it as they sat in companionable silence and watched the sun set before them. 

Daryl stared out contently at the land that they were slowly making their own. They could live there for years and be able to keep themselves fed off the land. There was a creek not too far away where they got fresh water. Hell, they even managed to bathe once a week by heating up the creek water in a large pot over the fireplace. The first time they did that they were both so giddy with being clean that Daryl had said fuck it to his rule of them not having sex without protection and he took her on the kitchen table twice. 

As much as he hated being responsible, he knew that they could not go around having unprotected sex all the time without consequences. The morning after they first had sex, made love, whatever you wanted to call it, he told Beth they couldn't do that again. 

Her face had paled and she clutched the bed sheet tight to her naked chest. He immediately back tracked his words explaining that it wasn't because he didn't want to, cause hell he pretty much always wanted to, or because he didn't think of her like that but because they couldn't risk her getting pregnant. She had protested but he was adamant. When he explained to her that they could still do other things she had huffed and said, "Like what?" 

He had smirked so widely at her question before he bent over to kiss her that thinking about it made his face hurt. Teaching her the different ways a body could move with another was his favorite way to pass the time. The first time that he had kissed her between her legs she had been so nervous her hands kept fluttering around like small birds. At the feel of his tongue on her she had moved her hands to his hair with a gasp. Of course, the first time she went down on him he had been no better and came into her mouth with her name on his lips. 

She didn't get her period for a few weeks after they had sex and he spent each day trying to work up the courage to ask her if she got it while worrying about what the hell they'd do if she did get pregnant. The day she finally got it he almost melted with relief that they would not have to worry about that yet. 

"We should head on inside." he said as the last rays of the sunset disappeared beyond the horizon. Beth lifted her head from his chest where she had been half asleep already and rose to her feet. Daryl clambered up behind her and they did one last scan of the area around the house before heading inside again. Daryl thought he heard something rustle in the trees to his left but seeing nothing he followed her inside. Shutting and locking the front door they slid the couch back in front of it. The house secured for the night Beth slipped off her shoes and slid her jacket off her shoulders. 

Daryl stepped forward and placed his hands on her upper arms. Bending down he kissed the pulse point of her neck and slipped the collar of her shirt down to bare her shoulder. Smiling she turned to face him and pulled her t-shirt over her head. Placing his hands on her hips he pulled her closer to him and bent his head to hers, catching her mouth with his own. Her hands gripped his shoulders and he put his hands on her ass and lifted her up. As Beth wrapped her legs around his waist a gunshot suddenly rang outside. 

They pulled away from each other with a gasp and a wild-eyed look. He put her back on the ground and she scooped her shirt off the floor in a panicked haste. As she shoved her feet into her boots and pulled the shirt over her head Daryl grabbed his crossbow and went to the window to peer through the cracks in the boards. Beth went around the house blowing out the candles. As he peered through the small crack into the darkening night, he managed to make out at least five figures at the edge of the woods. All were armed, all were male. He cursed under his breath. They were outnumbered in both people and weapons. They only had the advantage being in the house. If he was alone, he would have made a stand and maybe even killed the men if they came any closer, the farmhouse was that valuable. But Daryl wasn't alone. 

He looked over his shoulder at Beth who huddled behind him, gun in hand, a look of terror on her face just visible in the shallow moonlight. "Pack some food." he whispered to her. "We're leaving." 

A look of pain crossed her face but she nodded and did as he told her. Within minutes she was behind him again this time a pack on her shoulders. The men were now approaching the back door of the house. 

"We're going out the bathroom." he said swinging his crossbow onto his shoulder and shepherding her ahead of him. As he locked the bathroom door behind him, he heard the men begin to pound on the door to the house. 

"Maybe we should talk to them." Beth whispered as he eased the window open and motioned her forward. 

He looked down at her and felt his heart both break and soar at her innocence and trust of people. "Best not risk it." he whispered back. Daryl knew how dangerous men could be before the turn, and if these men had been bad people before then they had no hope of reasoning with them now. It was safer to assume everyone was a threat than to put your trust in the wrong people. 

He waited until the men circled to the front door of the house before helping Beth ease out the window and the few feet down to the ground outside. He hated making her go out first when the men could circle back and see her at any time but he wasn't about to let her wait in the house either. Just as he slipped through the window the front door crashed open to cheers. Daryl grabbed Beth's hand and they sprinted to the cover of the woods. 

They tore through the woods as quickly and quietly as they could for several minutes. Finally, Daryl decided that they were far enough away and they stumbled to a halt. Beth placed her hands on her hips and stared up at him, her breath ragged and her blue eyes fierce. He felt almost guilty under her questioning gaze. 

"We couldn't risk it." he finally whispered buckling under the pressure of her eyes. "It was a group of five men. No women. Who knows what they would have done to you." he explained his blood boiling hot at the mere thought of someone laying a hand on her. 

Beth's angry blue eyes softened. "I can take care of myself Daryl." she whispered gently placing a hand on his arm. 

He nodded and ran a hand through his overgrown hair. "I know that. I just..." Daryl paused unsure of how to continue, to explain why his fear of those men had been much different than his usual aversion to people. 

"It’s okay." Beth whispered stepping closer to him as if she knew the words he couldn't seem to find. 

Daryl shook his head. They had just lost their first home since the prison. The first place in a long time he truly felt like he belonged. All the happy memories of the farmhouse that had been their own for the past few months filled his head. They had lost their home to someone else, again. Daryl wondered if they would ever have a place to call their own, a place where they could be safe. 

"Hey." Beth put her hand on his chin and forced his eyes to look down at her calm face. "It'll be okay." she smiled up at him sadly. "We still have each other." 

Daryl pulled her to his side in a tight hug and surveyed the unfamiliar territory around them. "That we do." he agreed in a whisper. Sighing he let go of her, pulling his crossbow into his arms again and stepping forward into the night. "C'mon Greene. We've got ourselves a new home to find." 

Beth squinted in the glare of the sun as it finally broke over the tree line. The bright light of it made her blink as spots swam in her vision and she looked back at the floor of the woods as she and Daryl made their way through it. They had not stopped the night before except for a few minutes at a time to rest. She did not know what was possessing him to keep going like they were but he had fallen into a sullen silence. She only hoped it wouldn't be as bad as his silence when the prison had been destroyed. That silence had nearly destroyed them both. 

The unfamiliar woods around her seemed never ending as they walked on quietly. She was beginning to wonder if these woods would ever end or if they would continue to go in circles around them the way they used to go in circles around each other. 

"Are you okay?" Beth finally asked unable to stand the silence any longer. Her mind kept flashing back to the weeks when Daryl shut her out. She did not want to have to set another house on fire to get him to speak to her. 

Daryl looked back at her over his shoulder. "Just tired of running." he admitted before turning forward. 

"We could stop you know. Camp out in the woods somewhere." The idea was no more appealing to her now than it was before winter but at that point she would have suggested they live in a doghouse if it kept him from shutting her out. 

"Woods ain't safe forever." Daryl said gruffly. Beth knew he was thinking of the farmhouse they had just left behind. Part of her hated the men for taking it from them and a small part of her wished that Daryl would have at least let them try to talk to them. She knew why he hadn't and she was grateful for it but already she missed the idea of having a home. 

"So where are we going then?" she asked a few minutes later as she untangled her foot from a tree root. Daryl stopped and held onto her arm so she could kick herself free. Beth smiled up at him gratefully before he turned from her and her smile slid off her face. 

"Dunno yet. But we're gonna find us someplace safe." He fell back into his silence after that. Beth just hoped it was because he was thinking of where to go and not because he was in the process of shutting her out. 

That night they slept in shifts on the floor of the forest on a small hill. The air still held a chill and Beth had not had the time or the thought to pack them any blankets. Instead they curled up close and took turns guarding throughout the night. Only one walker stumbled upon them but Beth put it down quickly enough. They rose at dawn the next morning and continued on their way. Already the never-ending trees grated on Beth's nerves. She was beginning to wonder if they would ever find a town when they stumbled out onto a hiking trail. Exchanging a look Beth and Daryl went back into the trees and continued along the length of the path horizontal to it. They passed a group of walkers feasting on a deer and with four quick shots from Daryl's crossbow later where on their way again. Beth tried to clean the blood off the bolts as they walked but it was no use. 

A few minutes later Beth saw a sign at the side of the path and darted out to it while Daryl held his crossbow ready as she read it and came back to him. 

"It says Lake Greenwood Recreation Area is two miles away." she explained looking at him hopefully. Daryl frowned and looked up at the clear sky and then around him at the calm woods. "Works for now." he said with a shrug and they continued on their way still staying off the path. No reason to make it easier for walkers or humans to see them than they had to. 

Two miles later they stumbled out onto a camp ground, a large building to their right. A vast lake was behind it with picnic shelters and other camp ground features, Beth thought she even saw a small dock further down the shore. They quickly went to the door of the building, the sign out front boasting, _The Drumond Center_. Carefully they went up the steps and peered through the dusty windows at the cluttered mess inside. The few walkers from the camp ground had spotted them and began to turn their way as Daryl stopped at the busted door hanging from its hinges and knocked on the door frame. Beth pulled her knife out and waited, her muscles already tensing. A moment later two walkers stepped into the large front room, Daryl moved to go inside but Beth quickly grabbed his arm and pointed. Five more walkers had started out to. Daryl cursed before he jumped down the steps pulling Beth after him. 

They sprinted across the flat overgrown grass back into the trees. They had barely made it back into the cover of the woods before a walker from the camp grounds was reaching for them, Daryl swung his bow at it and it went down. A crash behind them showed Beth the walkers in the building had broken the door open. They kept running, a look over their shoulder showing that the small horde was still coming after them, breaking apart into smaller groups as the trees forced them. Their loud growls and the crash of Beth and Daryl sprinting through the trees drew other walkers to their presence. 

Beth's breath was coming in pants, more from fear than actual exertion, though she had not run this far or this fast in a long time. Seeing a break in the tree line to their right Daryl darted though it motioning Beth to do the same. They were now on the flat sandy shore leading to the lake. They were able to run faster now but the walkers were also able to hear them easier as they turned from the woods to follow them onto the sand. The lake to their side eventually flowed into a river. Both of them were breathing heavily when Daryl looked over his shoulder at the nearly thirty walkers on their tail and the four more who had just broken through the trees in front of them. 

"Can you swim?" he barked out as he came to a halt. Beth nodded and put her hands on her knees, bending double in a desperate attempt to catch her breath. "Let's go." he said grabbing her arm and turning her to the river. They sloshed through the churning water and Beth shivered as it came up over her boots and began to stick her jeans to her legs. She gasped as the bottom dropped out from beneath her and she sank in past her head. The shock of the water froze her for a moment before she pushed herself back up to the surface. She broke the water line with a gasp and began swimming after Daryl who was already several feet in front of her. Her teeth began to chatter as they swam at a diagonal to the opposite shore, the river's currents trying to tug them in every direction. 

About ten feet from the opposite shore the rushing waters pushed her into a floating log she had been trying to avoid. Beth yelped when she hit it painfully and hung on to it for a second to catch her breath. As she moved to push off of it the exposed skin of her wrist caught on a large splinter and tore open. Cursing she shoved away from the log and made for the shore which Daryl was now scrambling up on. 

The log had drifted her farther out but she pushed forward until she thought she could put her feet down. Cautiously she dropped her feet expecting for them to meet with the soft mud of the river bottom. As they did, she felt something close around her ankle. Beth let out a shriek that was abruptly cut off as she was pulled underwater. Cold water flooded her open mouth and she opened her eyes to peer though the dirty waters. 

A walker was stuck on the muddy floor of the river tangled on its back in reeds. One decayed hand was caught tight around Beth's boot, the other arm ended at the elbow. It tugged at her mercilessly, straining its jaw in her direction. Beth kicked her leg desperately but it would not loosen its hold. She aimed her other leg at its head and began kicking at it as hard as she could while she fumbled for her knife but the force of the water slowed her kicks down. Her fingers were too cold to undo the clasp on her knife sheath and she felt her lungs beginning to grow sore. Desperately she fumbled open the clasp and had just got her hand on the hilt when something grabbed her under her arms and yanked her free of the walker. 

As her head broke over the surface, she gasped for air only to begin coughing on dirty lake water. For a few terrible seconds Beth could not breath and she was terrified she was going to drown out of water. She was dragged backwards through the shallow water until she was dropped on the shoreline. Beth looked up with tears in her eyes, from both the pain in her chest and fear, and met Daryl's panic-stricken look as he pounded on her back. Lurching forward she vomited up her meager breakfast and what felt like half of the lake but then she managed to suck in a lungful of air. 

Beth's fingers dug into the mud around her as she began taking long gulps of air, feeling as though she had never felt anything so sweet. 

"You're okay." Daryl said rubbing her back between her shoulder blades. "You're okay." 

When it finally sounded like he wasn't saying it as a question and she thought her legs would hold her Beth slowly made to get to her feet. Daryl scrambled up first and reached down to help her. She looked up to thank him and saw that his face had gone white. He had let go of her wrist and was staring at the blood on his hand. 

"Beth." he whispered, looking up at her. Never before had she seen someone look as terrified as he did right then, or in as much pain. Even when she had been holding Patricia's hand and she had been attacked she hadn't looked to be as hurt as Daryl was right then. She realized suddenly what he had to be thinking. 

"It's not a scratch. Well not a walker scratch." Beth rolled up her sopping jacket sleeve. "I cut my wrist on that log out there." she pointed out to the river but Daryl didn't tear his eyes away from her to look. Slowly she grabbed his hands which were as cold as hers. "Daryl, I promise you. It didn't scratch me." she looked up at him, her blue eyes earnest until he finally nodded. A smile formed on her lips when he suddenly pulled her to him in a bone crushing hug. The tightness of his hold on her made her realize even more than his eyes how afraid he had just been. 

Unfortunately, his hug had her facing the direction of the river. "They're trying to cross." she said softly. There was a brief pause before Daryl let her go. 

"They won't make it." he looked over his shoulder as the walkers took to the river stumbling in it until falling or being rushed over by the currents. He bent to grab his crossbow off the bank where he had dropped it to dive in after her. "We should keep moving." 

Beth nodded with a shiver and started after him. He reached down for one second to squeeze her hand. 

"We need to get that cut cleaned." Daryl said before letting go and heading into the tree line after casting a quick glance in either direction. 

"We need to get our clothes dry to before we get sick." her teeth were already beginning to chatter as she crossed her arms over her chest. Water dripped off their clothing onto the floor with the soft pattering sound of raindrops. 

"Looks like we're gonna have to head into a town then. Needed some supplies anyway." Daryl frowned at the notion. Town trips were never a fun affair. More walkers, more dangers, more worries but ultimately more rewards. 

Stepping forward Beth nudged him gently before grabbing her knife and taking the lead. "Don't worry. We'll find something." 

It took them close to two shivering hours to find a place to stay for the night. In those two hours their clothes managed to stick themselves to their bodies like a second skin. Daryl could feel his skin chaffing against the wet material of his jeans but not a single part of him felt a complaint as he stared ahead of him at the small determined woman leading their way through the thinning trees. 

Looking at her his heart began to pound in his chest again, although not quite to the extent it had when he heard her cut off scream at the river. That time his heart had reacted like his rib cage was made out of glass and it was hell bent on breaking it. 

Thankfully he had got her away from that walker (floater? Drifter? Walker didn't really seem to apply in this one's case) in time. When he saw the scratch on her wrist though he had been so sure that it had all been for nothing. Daryl knew they were already living on numbered days but he had been so sure in that moment that those numbers had officially been cut short. He was staring down a dark and bleak tunnel that was filled with nothing but himself and the risen dead. Daryl was so sure in that moment that he would be alone. They might be able to get two, hell maybe even three, days before the fever burned Beth out, but after that? It would only be him. It would only ever be him and whatever ghost of a memory he was able to save of her. 

To say that he felt relief when she told him it was only a scratch from a tree branch would be akin to saying that Mount Everest was a bit large. He had never felt a feeling so sweet. After losing so many people it was nice to just once be the winners. 

"There's a few houses up ahead." Beth whispered between chattering teeth, pointing forward with her knife in hand. They were at the edge of the tree line and before them several large two-story houses lay in a uniform cluster of big suburb looking houses. The kind of houses Merle used to break into for fun. They were at the top of a small hill, after the houses was an incline that left the space beyond out of their line of sight. There were a few walkers stumbling around the street before them and there was a few more on their trail still. You didn't get to wander through the woods without drawing some attention to yourself, even with Daryl’s light feet. 

Daryl nodded and made sure his crossbow was loaded (a ridiculous precaution as it was always loaded) before pointing to the closest house. Quickly they darted to the first of the houses, dodging around an in-ground pool that was still half full with dirty water and general debris. A thick layer of dead leaves floated on top of it like a scab. They sprinted up the wooden staircase of the house's deck and made their way to the sliding glass door leading to the rest of the house. Cautiously Daryl knocked against the frame while Beth watched out behind them. A few minutes passed and nothing came to the door of the house. The walkers on the street had been distracted by the strong breeze that had started up, rattling a collection of wind chimes on the house at the other end of the block and making both Beth and Daryl shiver harder. 

Slowly Daryl slid the door open, Beth following close behind. The house was huge and filled with light from its many unbarred windows. This was as much like their tiny farmhouse in the woods as a porcupine was like a grizzly bear. Making sure the house was clear took them ten minutes, it could have been half that but Daryl was not willing to let Beth go alone. Thankfully there was nothing living or dead in the house but them. The owners had to have left in a hurry and the place was too far out to have been raided yet as the kitchen was stocked as were the two bathroom's medicine cabinets. 

Stripping out of their wet clothes took a bit of work as they had seemed to become rather attached to their skin. Eventually they managed and used some of the thick towels in the bathroom to dry their frozen and numb bodies. Beth sat on the counter before him, wrapped in a towel, as Daryl went to work cleaning the cut on her wrist. It was deeper than he had originally noticed as he had been unable to see much of anything past his first bout of terror. Thankfully it was not deep enough to need stitches as he had never learned to sew and he highly doubted Beth would be able to stitch up her own skin one handed. He insisted on cleaning it out, sure that the lake water would get it infected. Once her wrist was bandaged in white gauze Beth looked up at him with her wide blue eyes. 

"Thank you." she whispered with a smile. 

He nodded as he shoved the rest of the gauze into the back pack on the other half of the counter. "I've never been so scared in my whole life." Daryl admitted as he straightened, and reached up to tug on the braid Beth always kept in her ponytail as he leaned down to rest his forehead on hers. 

"I've never been so grateful in my whole life." She retorted reaching out and running her still chilled fingers down his face. "I don't know what I would have done without you." Beth admitted on a whispered breath. 

That was all it took for Daryl to lose what little control he had left. 

His mouth was on hers before she could even finish her sentence, his arms wrapped tight around her small frame to pull her as close to him as possible. Her fingers tangled into his hair as she dropped her legs open allowing him to step inside of them. Their kissing was not the sweet tremor of their usual embrace nor was it simply a lustful desire fueling them. Beth clung to him like he was a life raft and in turn he kissed her with a desperation that he had never felt for another person. 

Her damp hair brushed against his arms and she shivered as he pulled the towel from her body his already pooled on the linoleum floor. Needing her like he needed oxygen Daryl slipped inside her, causing her to gasp against his mouth and wrap her legs around his waist. The tight feel of her around him almost sent him over the edge immediately but he resisted. He moved one hand to her hip to hold her steady as he moved inside her. His tongue was in her mouth and his arms were around her body and _she was still alive_. Nothing else mattered at that moment. The only thing in the world he cared about was that she was safe. In that moment everything was Beth, Beth, Beth. He didn't even realize that he was saying her name against her lips, whispering it into her mouth like it was a promise. 

Daryl heard her when she moaned his name and as she began to clench around him he came with a jerk and a moan, not evening having the presence of mind to pull out of her first. He knew he should worry about that, should panic about the chance of her getting pregnant. But instead all he could think about was how good it felt to stay inside her. 

Beth pulled away from where she had collapsed against his chest to smile up at him. He slipped out of her with a groan and as he handed her a towel to clean off with, she kissed the tip of his nose. 

Later that night, encased in new warm clothes that had been the previous owners they lay stretched out on the large bed. Daryl had never laid on anything so soft, add that in with a full stomach, warm clothes and Beth in his arms and he never wanted to move again. Unfortunately, he hadn't been lulled into such a sense of security to think that was an option. 

"We can't stay here." he whispered into Beth's ear. They lay on their sides, his arms wrapped tight around her, pressing her into his chest, their legs tangled together. Beth twisted her neck up to look at him. "It's too obvious of a place to loot." he explained, moving his arm to brush a chunk of blonde hair out of her eyes where it had fallen. 

"It hasn't been looted yet." she argued, her voice soft. 

Daryl sighed into her hair. He never wanted to leave this bed. All he wanted was to stay here and hold Beth forever. But he knew he had to do what he must to keep them safe. "Even if we wanted to stay here, this house has so many windows. So many entry points. We'd never be safe here." 

Beth dropped her head against his chest with a sigh as her hands tightened their grip on his arms. "As long as we're together I don't care where we are." she whispered into the black sweater he had stolen from the closet. 

Daryl wound his fingers through a lock of her hair. He wondered what on earth she could see in a man such as him. He didn't even try to kid himself into thinking they would have been together if the world hadn't ended. She was too good for him, too pure, too innocent. But that only made him want her more. Some sick part of him thought he wanted her because he had no other options but he had realized long before their little farmhouse that he wanted her because she made him feel happy. She made him think that there was something worth living for in this world. Beth was like a drug to him, like bottled sunshine and hope. Daryl would do anything for the woman lying in his arms and that knowledge made him almost nauseous. He hardly knew what he was about to say before it tumbled past his lips. 

"I love you." It came out muffled, spoken in a whisper into her hair. Although Daryl had never spent too much time thinking over a way to define what he felt for Beth he knew as soon as the words were out that it was true. She stiffened in his arms and pulled back to look up into his eyes. 

"I love you too." Those were the four best words he had ever heard in his life and thoughts of leaving the house were put aside as the couple lost themselves to each other again. 

Afterwards they wrapped around each other in the dark under the blankets. The flame from the single candle they had lit flickered steadily in the otherwise black room. 

"Where do you want to go?" Beth asked, her sweet voice filling the darkness. 

Daryl lifted his head from the pillow to look down at her in confusion. "Anywhere. Don't really know the area but we'll find something." 

Beth shook her head, blonde hair fanning around her. "We should have a destination. All this trekking aimlessly through the woods is driving me crazy." 

He opened his mouth to argue that the woods were safer as it was easier to lose a walker and there were less people but she was suddenly pulling from his arms and leaning over the side of the bed. He heard her digging for something in their scattered clothing before she leaned back with something small in her hand. 

"I found this when I was emptying the bag out." Beth explained as she settled against him. "I figured any destination was better than no destination at all." 

Shadows flickered off the shining silver spoon lying flat in her palm. In the wavering light of the candle’s flame Daryl could just make out the engraving in the shape of the white house and the words _The Capitol, Washington DC._

Daryl had never felt any desire at all to see the nation's capital but what the hell? Beth was right.

Any destination was better than no destination at all.


	3. Chapter 3

The cluster of houses sat on the top of a small crest of a hill looking down on a moderately sized city. This was both a good thing and bad thing. Bad because there were walkers stumbling around in every direction but good because they were making enough noise themselves that any small noises Beth and Daryl made on their hunt for a working car often went overlooked. There were enough cars lying around that finding one that worked enough to get them a reasonable distance was easy. However, finding enough gas to actually use the car took them over half of the day. 

Beth stood keeping watch, knife held up at the ready, as Daryl lay half in the car on the driver's seat his hands tangled in the wires under the dash. Her mind was filled with questions to ask about where he'd learned that skill and why but it was mostly just idle curiosity. She could have no ill thoughts at the skill that might one day save their lives. If anything, it was certainly making things easier for them now. 

"Got it." Daryl grunted as the car engine came to life. Beth did not remember a car ever sounding that loud in her whole life, not even Otis's blue pick-up with its busted muffler. She darted around to the passenger side nervously as every walker nearby turned themselves in the direction of the purring car. The second she slid onto the car's sun-bleached interior Daryl was moving the car in reverse through the assorted debris and other various abandoned automobiles clustered on the road. She slammed the door shut and pulled the seat-belt on out of a habit she found herself surprised to still have. Daryl rose an eyebrow at her as he flipped the car around to face forward as they cleared the debris. 

"Safety first." Beth said sheepishly with a shrug. Daryl didn't respond but from the corner of her eye she saw him pull his own seat belt down across his chest and fasten it. She turned to look out the dusty window biting down on a smile. 

Being in a car again felt strange. Getting out of the city limits took some maneuvering around the shambling corpses and they had a few close calls where they had to suddenly turn or back out of a road that was overrun. Daryl was as good of a driver as he was a crazy driver and they managed to get out of the city and onto a small two-lane highway without much mishap. Flexing her fingers which were stiff from maintaining their grip on the safety bar Beth watched the trees flash past the window with a strange feeling of melancholy. 

"I've never driven a car." she spoke suddenly, breaking the comfortable silence that had fallen since they entered the automobile. Beth turned her neck letting her head fall against the headrest as she gazed at Daryl who lounged in the driver's seat with one hand on the wheel and the other resting lightly on her knee. He looked at her sideways as he drummed his fingers lightly on the bare skin of her knee showing though the hole in her worn jeans. 

"Point. Cheater." she smiled widely at him which only got her a snort in return as he faced the empty road before them. "Didn't you grow up on a farm?" Daryl rose his eyebrows at her as she ran her hand over his lightly. 

"I didn't say I never learned to _drive_. Just that I've never driven a _car_." Beth explained farther. She shrugged as Daryl furrowed his brow in confusion. "Daddy and Shawn taught me to drive the summer I turned thirteen." She sucked on her bottom lip a moment as she debated whether to continue. She didn't really like the sound of silence no matter how comfortable it was. "Mama didn't want them to teach me. She thought I was way too young to learn. I think she thought teaching me to drive would make me leave the farm faster and she wasn't ready to let go of me in any way just yet." Her fingers tightened on Daryl's callused hand. Slowly he flipped his hand over and Beth threaded her smaller fingers with his gratefully. She had forgotten how much it hurt to talk about her family. As his finger's tightened around hers she felt the words burning at the back of her throat until she let them out. "Mama and Maggie were out shopping in Atlanta when they taught me. Put me in Otis's pickup and set me loose in the fields. I thought I was going to crush half the harvest." 

A sad smile tugged at the corner of her lips as Beth turned her head to stare out the window but it wasn't the scenery outside that she was seeing. Her mind was trapped in the memory of a life that was so much easier than the one she found herself living now. "When we got back to the farmhouse that night and Mama saw me pull up, she got so mad. I swear her face turned bright red. Daddy said smoke was sure to come out of her ears if we didn't get up to the porch right away." Unexpectedly a laugh escaped her at the memory of her father's weary yet sheepish face as he had looked up at the small fuming form of his wife. 

"When she saw me hop out of the driver's seat, she looked so ready to be angry but then Maggie came rushing out of the house and just started hollering that she'd wanted to be the one to teach me." Tears formed in Beth's eyes at the thought of her sister. It was the not knowing what had happened to her that hurt the worst. She held onto the hope that somewhere Maggie and Glenn were together and safe with all of her heart. It was one of the few things that helped her sleep at night. "After that they let me drive the pickup on the farm but I never had a chance to get my license. I didn't turn sixteen until a few days, well, _after_." 

Beth blinked the few lingering tears from her eyes and stared forward. The barren road stretched on before them lit up by the lowering sun as a silence descended on the car. She was surprised that it was still not uncomfortable but she was beginning to realize that nothing was uncomfortable between them anymore. Beth supposed that when you loved someone you were allowed to tell them silly stories, memories that now hurt, and they wouldn't question why you told them. The person you loved would just listen. 

Daryl drummed his fingers against the steering wheel tunelessly. "Merle taught me." he offered shrugging as she looked over at him. "Bust into the house one day and dragged me out to the street to this shiny new Mustang. Pushed me in the front seat and made me drive on the back streets out of town for hours." A look of sadness passed over his face so quickly Beth almost thought she had imagined it. He never mentioned his brother except for rare times at night when it was so dark, she couldn't see the pain it obviously caused him. Merle was the only family Daryl had ever really loved and she could not imagine the pain he had felt the day he had to end his reanimated state. Daryl turned suddenly to face her. "Course he didn't tell me until after that he had stolen the car." 

Beth laughed as a small grin formed on Daryl's lips as he settled back into the seat. "Merle's the one who taught me how to hot wire." he explained. 

"I was wondering about that." Beth said with a smile, pulling her legs up on the seat underneath her as she settled in to listen to his story. 

He nodded as he let his own memories take him over. "We used to street race but we never owned a good enough car." he explained. "So, we'd hot-wire any nice or fast looking car we could find and use them instead. I never got caught but one-night Merle did. He'd just turned eighteen. Got him his first prison sentence, eighteen months." Daryl frowned before shaking his head. "Damn brother of mine was always getting caught in the wrong place." 

The look of sadness was back on his face. Beth tightened her grip on his hand before raising his knuckles to her lips. "I'm sorry." she whispered against his fist. Daryl let out a shaky breath before shrugging. 

"There any CDs in here?" Beth didn't comment on the obvious subject change as she searched the floorboards and the glove box. She managed to scrounge up three CDs which she held out in her hands. 

"Looks like we've got 'Road-trip Songs for Infants', 'Ocean Sounds', and 'Relaxing Scottish Melodies.'" 

Daryl made a disgruntled face at her. "Maybe you should just sing." Rolling down the window he grabbed the CDs from her hands. Before she could protest, he threw them outside. Turning in her seat she watched them hit the pavement and shatter. "I never get tired of your singing." he admitted softly. 

Beth turned back to smile at him. "Are you trying to get a point for that?" 

"No. It's just a fact." Daryl was wearing the pained expression he often got when things got more personal than he seemed to be comfortable with. Leaning back against the seat again Beth licked her lips and scoured her brain for a song. She had never sang a song for just Daryl before and the thought of it made her unexpectedly nervous. Sure, she had sung songs _around_ him before but that was different. They hadn't been directed at him. A favorite song of her mother's came to her suddenly and she ran her thumb lightly over the back of Daryl's hand as she began to sing. 

"When the rain is blowing in your face and the whole world is on your case, I could offer you a warm embrace to make you feel my love." She found herself unable to look at him as she sang. Her voice came out shaky at first but by the time she reached the end it had steadied. As she finished the song she finally looked up from their entwined hands. "I've never sang a love song to someone before that." Beth admitted shyly. 

Daryl squeezed her hand lightly. "Me neither." she looked up at him with a small hopeful smile and he chuckled as he shook his head. "And I ain't about to break that one. My voice ain't anything you want to hear." 

Beth grinned wider and nudged his shoulder lightly. "Aw c'mon. I sang to you." she tried to bat her eyes at him, a trick Maggie would use on their father to get what she wanted but Daryl seemed to be immune to it or she didn't do it right as he merely laughed at her again. 

"Your singing was great." he said softly. "Which is exactly why I won't be singing to you. Ever." 

Beth removed her hand from his to slouch back in the seat with her arms crossed. Pretending to be upset she pouted. "Why tell each other things we've never done if we don't try to do them afterwards?" 

She meant it as a joke but it was met with silence. Sitting up straight she looked over at Daryl who had the crease between his eyebrows that usually meant he was thinking something over. 

Suddenly he slowed the car to a stop and shifted into park. The suddenness of it made Beth brace herself against the dashboard as she was thrown forward against her seat belt. 

"Daryl I was just kidding." she said softly unsure of what he was doing. He looked up at her and reached over to unbuckle her seat belt before undoing his own. 

"Let's go Greene." he said opening the door and stepping out. 

Beth blinked in surprise before scrambling out of her own door. "Go where?" she asked as Daryl made his way to her side of the car. 

"You're driving." he explained as he walked behind her to slide into the passenger seat. Quickly she darted around the front of the car and buckled herself into the driver's seat. A walker on the edge of the road had turned to trudge in their direction. Beth eyed it once before turning to face Daryl who was lounging back in his seat. 

Beth looked at him and rose an eyebrow to ask for an explanation. Daryl merely shrugged in response. "What's the point of saying things we've never done if we don't try to do them?" he asked, the barest hint of a small smile on his lips. A grin broke across her face as she shifted the car into drive. 

"You're just worried I'm catching up on points, right?" 

"I spy..."Beth sucked on her lower lip as she looked around the empty road they walked down. The asphalt underneath their boots was cracked and threatened to trip them with every step they took. The area surrounding the road wasn't much to look at either, just another endless expanse of trees that might as well be never ending. "Something yellow." she beamed triumphantly at him. 

Daryl shifted the strap of the back pack up higher on his shoulder and looked around him. The trees were still forming their new leaves but the ones that were there were a bright green that mocked him with the knowledge that they wouldn't last past the season. Sometimes, he wondered if he would make it past this season of his life. The sides of the small two-lane road were empty. No trash, no litter and unfortunately no abandoned cars. They had run out of gas early morning the past day and had been forced to abandon their car as there was no gas station within miles. The few cars they had come upon since had all been unusable; all had empty gas tanks and one had three flat tires as well. Neither Daryl or Beth seemed to mind the walk though. They had only spent one day in the car but after being on foot for so long being cooped up had felt like an eternity. Besides, winter seemed to have finally let go of its last hold. The spring sun was shining down upon them, thawing out the last bits of winter's chill inside them, and the birds were chirping happily in the trees. Honestly Daryl wanted to be in the trees with them but they had better luck of finding a car if they were on the road and he didn't want to ask Beth to step into the tree cover again, not when she looked so happy to have the sun shining on her face. 

Wait, the sun. 

"The sun?" he grunted, glancing up at the aforementioned orb. The light of it hurt his eyes and he looked back down quickly blinking away dark spots from his vision. 

"Yup!" Beth cried happily, hooking her fingers into the straps of her pack and smiling over at him as she nudged his shoulder with her own. "Your turn." 

Daryl looked around the desolate road as they turned a corner. A piece of metal caught his eye and he was about to use that when a billboard came into view. The billboard had originally been for a cluster of restaurants that were coming up in a few miles but now words crisscrossed over it in a jumbled mess. He looked over at Beth and jerked his head over to it. She followed him wordlessly as they stared at the many assorted handwritings coating the faded ads. 

Uninterested Daryl made to turn back to the road but from the corner of his eye he saw Beth reach out and put her fingers softly against the words written there. Her fingers trailed down them and he saw her blink quickly like she was fighting back tears but when she turned to face him her eyes were dry. 

"They're names." she whispered looking down at where her fingers met the words. "I think they're people who have died." 

He stepped closer to get a better look at the board. She was right, name after name was scrawled, some in paint, some in marker or pen, some in what he could only assume was blood. The names varied in size but he noticed as he peered more closely that none of the names overlapped. Some had an explanation next to it, he assumed for how they died. One name had bitten, one gun-shot, one had the word Terminus which sounded vaguely familiar but he couldn’t quite place. A strange numbness filled him at the sight of the names of so many dead. A small part of Daryl wondered who wrote the names onto the board. Who had started this strange and sick process? 

"This is beautiful." Beth whispered suddenly breaking him from his thoughts. He crinkled his brow at her in confusion. Daryl found the whole thing twisted, like counting off who was dead. Beth took his hand and pulled him next to her. "It's probably the only funeral most of them got." she explained leaning her head against his arm though her eyes were still glued to the board. Slowly he rubbed his thumb against her palm and considered this. 

Sadly, it was true. More than likely over three-quarters of the names on this board where either walkers, walker food or decomposing somewhere. Many of them likely got eaten or died in a place or time where no one could bury them. This was the only resting place or grave marker many of them would ever get. 

"It's also an answer." Beth said softly. She seemed unable to raise her voice above a murmur. Surprisingly Daryl found he felt the same way. Even with the lack of bodies it still felt as though they were intruding in a graveyard. 

"What do you mean?" he asked, his tone as soft as hers. 

Beth looked up at him then, her blue eyes wide. "It tells you if you can stop looking for someone." she explained. 

The thought had not crossed his mind. Daryl looked back to the names again his eyes scanning frantically before Beth squeezed his hand. 

"None of them are there. I already checked." her gaze was fixed on the board again and Daryl let out his breath slowly, unsure if what he felt was relief or not. He had no names to look for but those from the prison. He didn't care about anyone he knew from before the turn enough to wander about them now. Ever since Merle he had decided he was just better off not knowing. 

But the lack of the people from the prison's names being on the board didn't mean that they were alive. It just meant no one had written on this one board one state away that they weren't. 

"Should we add names to this?" Beth asked suddenly, drawing him from his depressing thoughts. Daryl turned the idea over in his mind. Many of their dead they had managed to bury. But not all. Looking at Beth he realized that she might need this act of closure far more than she was letting on. Slowly he nodded. 

Just as he was beginning to question where they would find a pen Beth removed her hand from his to bend down and rummage through a bucket by one of the sign’s posts he hadn't noticed. She stood, a fistful of pens in her hand and looked up at him. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked over his shoulder. She opened her mouth to say something but Daryl was already turning. 

A pair of walkers had emerged from the trees to stumble towards the sound of their whispered conversation. Quickly Daryl fired off two bolts, both of which landed perfectly in the corpses heads. Slinging the crossbow back over his shoulder he went to retrieve his bolts frowning at the excess blood and chunks of brain that stuck to them. Satisfied that the road was now deserted he headed back to Beth who wordlessly handed him a marker. 

"We should write them next to each other so we don't write the same name twice." Beth whispered as he stepped next to her and uncapped the pen. Nodding he pressed the marker to the board and paused. The faces of everyone he, they, had lost flashed past his eyes and he found himself unsure of where to start. The soft sound of the marker moving against the board drew his eyes to the words forming in Beth's neat bubbly handwriting. 

_Hershel Greene._

Daryl placed a hand on the small of her back and she smiled sadly over at him. Taking a deep breath Daryl turned back to the board and began to scrawl the names of those they had lost. They wrote for several minutes filling the entire previously unused right bottom corner. Name after name filled the square: **Lori Grimes** , _Andrea Harrison_ , **Shane Walsh**. It felt like they would never run out of names. Finally, Beth stepped back from the board. Daryl stayed where he was his fingers clenching against the pen. He didn't want to write this last name. In fact, it felt impossible for him to write it. 

Merle was never much. He was loud and rude and nothing but trouble but he was also the only real family Daryl had ever had. He wasn't ready to say this last good-bye. He wasn't ready to have this marker. 

A small hand slipped inside his free one then and he looked down at Beth whose eyes were filled with a sadness that must have been shining through his own. Daryl realized then that Merle wasn't the only family he had ever had, he was just the first. Slowly he scrawled the name of his dead brother among the names of the rest of his dead family. 

Capping the pen Daryl stepped back and stared with Beth in silence at the names that seemed to take over the rest of the billboard in his eyes. 

"Should we write everyone else down too?" Beth asked quietly. Daryl didn't have to ask her who she meant. They did not talk about others making it out of the prison, not anymore. He didn't know if it was because they had given up on finding others or if they had given up on anyone else making it out alive. He still wasn't sure what he thought had happened to anybody else. It was hard for him to believe that only him and Beth made it out alive but it was harder for him to hope that they would ever see anyone else again. But even with that he was not ready to write everyone else off as dead. He did not think he could manage to write another name on that list. That board did not seem like it could any more of their sadness. 

"Nah." he said with a shrug. "They might not be dead." It was the first time that he had said such a thing out loud. Beth was always the one to say the optimistic things. It was always her who could find the bright side of things or the hope in their situation. Hearing himself say it felt strange, foreign. But surprisingly, not unpleasant. 

Beth looked up at him with wide eyes, he was uneasy to see tears beginning to form in them. Crying women were never his strong suit. She laughed softly as if she could since his discomfort and ran her thumbs under her eyes. 

"I just wish there was a way I could know what happened to them." she admitted. "Even if I never see another one of them again, I just wish I could know if they were alive somewhere." she crossed her arms as if she was suddenly cold even though the sun still shone down on them. 

Daryl looked at her once before training his eyes on the board. He knew how she felt, the not knowing was always the worst part. As he stared unseeingly at the names before him a thought occurred to him and he grabbed Beth's hand. She made a small noise of surprise as he dragged her around to the other side of the board. This side was blank, just the empty back of the board and the two metal beams keeping it upright. Not letting go of Beth's hand he stuck the pen cap in his mouth to pull it off. 

Clenching his teeth around the cap he rose the pen to the board. Beth looked about to question him but as he began to write she fell into silence. Done, Daryl handed her the pen, she had to let go of his hand so that she could write. When she stepped back Daryl recapped the pen, balancing it on top of the pole. 

As she stared in silence at the words they had written he felt the need to explain himself. "I just thought if someone saw it." he shrugged unsure of how to word his intentions. "It's not much." he finally said. 

"Yes, it is." Beth looked over at him, her eyes shining as the tears finally began to fall. They left two pale tracks in the dust on her face. "Thank you." she whispered stepping forward to wrap her arms around him. Daryl returned the embrace, happy to find that he no longer flinched when she fell into his arms. The embrace was awkward due to the bulkiness of their bags but he was still reluctant to let her go. Holding her made the pain of their losses just a little bit more bearable. 

"Thanks for what?" he questioned with a grunt as they separated. 

Beth’s eyes shown as she looked up at him before taking his hand in her own. "For hope." 

Daryl could only manage a nod as they turned back to the road. As they stepped back onto the cracked and broken asphalt, he spared one last look over his shoulder. Five words stood alone on the otherwise empty board. 

**Alive:**

**Daryl Dixon**

_Beth Greene_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The line Beth sings is from 'Make You Feel My Love' by Bob Dylan.


	4. Chapter 4

"I don't think its broken." Beth hissed in pain as Daryl ran his fingers up over her leg. His cold fingers passed over the holes in her jeans and pressed lightly on the sides of her knee cap. A small cry passed her lips at the sudden blare of agony that flared up at the pressure. 

Daryl glanced up at her and shook his head. "It's dislocated." he looked back down at her knee and frowned, his brow crinkling. "I can feel the bone moved out of place." he explained as he adjusted his crossbow and bag on his shoulders. She reached down to touch her knee softly and filched at the feeling of the knee cap out of alignment. Daryl bent to help Beth stand up which she did shakily, putting weight on only her left leg. Her right leg was stiff and unable to bend or rise very high off the ground. 

"What do we do now?" Beth asked quietly, fighting back tears at the pain blaring up her leg and the feeling of uselessness she now felt. 

"We need to get to shelter." Daryl wrapped an arm tightly around her waist and began to lead her back onto the road. Beth tried not to groan at the slow and uncomfortable walking process, they weren't going to get anywhere very fast with her only able to walk on one leg. Silently she cursed her stupidity. They had been in the woods hunting for food as their supply was running low when she got her foot tangled in a tree root. She had toppled over and twisted at the last second to catch herself. When she twisted her ankle remained caught in the branches and she had hit the dirt floor as something in her leg popped. She had been hoping that it was only a twist or a sprain but she knew before Daryl told her that it was more than that. The pain and the sound of it had not been lost on her. 

They emerged from the trees to hobble down the abandoned road, Beth's right leg dragging uselessly on the floor. Their slow gait left both of them feeling uneasy and they fell into silence both darting their eyes around nonstop, any more than a few walkers would likely be impossible to fight off with her in this condition. Silently they made their difficult trek for nearly an hour, Beth trying not to pass out from the increasing torment in her leg. They had barely gone two miles since they started and already, she was exhausted. Daryl pointed to a sign that they were approaching that promised lodging at the next exit. 

"We'll try there." he whispered and she nodded weakly. Silently she kept cursing at herself for tripping. While they weren't necessarily in a hurry to get to the capital, they had already not been making good time. It had been a week since they had started on their journey and even though they had managed to drive for a good while they were still only just out of South Carolina, they had passed the entry sign into North Carolina earlier that morning. Their progress was slow, not just because of her new injury, but because of the constant threat of walkers. They were only able to walk in the daylight because they couldn't risk flashlights or walking through the night. Neither was comfortable risking themselves so unnecessarily to the low visibility. They also spent their mornings trying to hunt down game which was the cause of her leg injury and their newest delay. 

Part of her was beginning to think that this whole trek was stupid but she was unwilling to call it off. Daryl seemed to need a quest as much as she needed to have a destination. She had no idea what they would even do once they got to DC but it made it easier for her to sleep knowing that they had a place to go and all of their wanderings weren't just in an aimless and never-ending pursuit for shelter. 

Twenty some minutes later they slowly approached a small motel. There were ten rooms in a u-shaped building, the doors all on the outside under a broken awning. In the middle of the parking lot there were two cars that had clearly crashed into each other. Broken glass littered the asphalt and pinned in between the cars a walker lay stretched out on one of the hoods. It looked up and reached for them as they passed, letting out a low groan. Near one of the doors were the corpses of two more walkers with their heads crushed in. A large dried blood stain spread from their bodies. Cautiously they approached the first motel door. Daryl helped Beth lean against the wall before he knocked faintly on the door of the motel. After a few seconds of silence, they heard something hit the door from the inside and the growls of a walker. Beth watched as Daryl repeated this process on the next three doors before he finally tried to open a door. He held up a hand to indicate Beth should stay where she was. 

She huffed under her breath resting her hand on the hilt of her knife. As if she could have followed him if she wanted to. A few moments later Daryl came out of the room and headed back to her. She made to wrap her arm around his waist not looking forward to hobbling even the mere twenty feet to the door but before she could he scooped her up into his arms. She gasped in surprise and bit back a smile as he carried her bridal style over the threshold of the door, kicking it shut behind them. 

The room was dusty and smelled of mildew but it was clean and clear of corpses. Beth giggled as Daryl deposited her lightly on one of the beds, the pain in her leg momentarily forgotten. 

"Wow I even get my own bed tonight?" she joked as she scooted back on it. After spending the last week sleeping on the floor of the woods, she didn't think a mattress had ever felt so fine. 

Daryl rose his eyebrows at her and she grinned reaching up to place a hand on his chest. "I'm kidding." she whispered pulling him down to press her lips to his. He kissed her back briefly before pulling away to which she made a weak noise of protest. 

"We need to take care of that knee." he said standing and going to the other bed where his bag lay and rummaging through it. Beth groaned and removed her own bag from her back before flopping against the mattress and staring up at the yellowing ceiling. 

"Thanks for reminding me." she groaned as the pain suddenly pushed itself back to the forefront of her mind. Daryl made a noise she thought might have been a chuckle before he came back and popped the button on her jeans. Beth's eyes opened and she rose an eyebrow at him. 

Daryl rolled his eyes. "I need to see your knee better." Slowly he began to slid her jeans off, she arched herself off the bed to help him push them past her hips. As he began to pull them off her hurt leg she winced at the sensation. Finally, he succeeded in easing the material off her swollen knee cap and tossed the jeans on the floor behind him. 

Beth propped herself up on her elbows and looked down at her knee. Already it was swollen and she could see that her kneecap was slightly out of place as well. Taking a deep breath Beth shut her eyes and lay back again. Looking at it was almost worse than the pain. She tried not to wince as Daryl ran his fingers over it softly, even his light touch felt like knives. 

"I've never broken a bone." she said through clenched teeth hoping to distract herself from the injury. 

"Point for you." Daryl said absentmindedly. His fingers hit a tender spot and she was not able to bite back the cry of pain. She could feel him looking at her and tried to sit up to show him that she was okay. "We're going to have to push the cap back in place." he explained and she felt herself pale. That sounded astonishingly painful. 

Slowly Beth nodded, biting her lip. "Do you know how?" she inquired quietly. 

Daryl didn't say anything just adjusted his hold on her leg. Placing one hand on her thigh and the other on her ankle he slowly pushed her leg back so her leg was slightly bent. Carefully he pulled on her ankle and she felt the cap begin to shift. Beth cried out and arched her back at the pain that nearly blinded her before she felt the cap shift back into place and her muscles unclenched. The pain was still there but it was more subdued. She ran her hands over her face as she felt Daryl begin to wrap her knee tightly with a roll of cloth bandages they had taken from their last house. 

"Where'd you learn to do that?" she asked gently propping herself back up on her elbows to look down at him. He didn't look up from her leg as he shrugged. Beth bit her lip at the sudden closed look on Daryl's face. She had forgotten how little he liked to discuss his past. She opened her mouth to say he didn't have to tell her when he suddenly spoke. 

"Popped my shoulder out of place a few times as a kid." he shrugged as he finished wrapping her knee. "Figured couldn't be all that different to fix." 

He seemed so uncomfortable Beth decided not to press the issue although she was dying to know how he had dislocated his shoulder enough as a child to have to learn how to fix it himself. Judging from what little he’d told her of his past she was afraid she might already know the answer. 

"Thank you." she whispered as he rose off his knees to sit next to her on the bed. She sat up and leaned her head against his shoulder, lightly running her fingers over her bandaged knee. She winced but the pain was not as intense as it was before. 

Daryl rummaged in the backpack next to them before pulling out a small orange bottle and handing it to her. "Painkillers." he handed her a bottle of water as well but Beth shook her head. 

"No really. The pain isn't so bad now." she looked at him and smiled softly. "I don't want to waste them." 

"It's not a waste. You're in pain." He opened the bottle and spilled one of the little white pills into her hand. Knowing she wouldn't win this fight Beth popped it into her mouth and swallowed. 

Wiping the back of her hand across her mouth she frowned down at her leg. "How long until I can walk on it?" 

She felt Daryl shrug as he wrapped his arm around her waist. "A few weeks most like. It wasn't too badly out of place so it might heal faster." 

Beth groaned and buried her head against his chest. "I'm sorry." she whispered her voice nearly lost in his leather jacket. 

"Why?" he asked, the confusion evident in his voice as he began running his fingers through her hair. 

"For delaying us. For being hurt." Beth sighed. She hated feeling so helpless and weak. 

"Got nothing to be sorry for." Daryl placed a finger under her chin and tilted her face up to look at her. "People get hurt. It happens." His blue eyes were steady on hers in a gaze that made her blush and look down. 

"So, you're not just going to sneak out the minute I fall asleep?" she meant it as a joke but the second it came out, she realized she was actually afraid of it. While she didn't think that was something Daryl would do to her, or anyone, she couldn't shake the fear that she was now to useless to stay with. Daryl didn't say anything and she looked up at him in a sudden burst of fear. 

An emotion she couldn't quiet place passed over Daryl's face then and he pulled her to him and kissed her roughly. She gasped in surprise at the sudden passion of it but before she could really return the kiss Daryl pulled away. He only went far enough away so that he could rest his forehead against hers. 

"I love you Beth Greene." he whispered, making her heart beat faster at the sound. "I ain't never gonna leave you." 

The sunlight streaming through the gap in the curtains hit Daryl's closed eyelids and slowly pulled him from slumber. Groaning lightly, he opened his eyes to squint a glare at the aforementioned light silently cursing the fact that he hadn't closed the curtains all the way the night before. Sleeping on the bed was still such a luxury that he was not willing to leave it and the glare of the sun only annoyed him at its desire to shine directly into his eyes. 

Sighing, he made to roll over onto his side but found he was unable to due to the fact that Beth was cuddled on his chest, using it as a pillow even though there were plenty of pillows already on the bed. Daryl placed his hand on her head and lightly ran his fingers through her loose blonde hair. 

Her knee was healing nicely and she could almost walk the length of the room alone without having to stop due to the pain. Daryl felt overwhelming relief at this because popping her knee back into place had only been guess work. When he had done it, he wasn't sure if he was actually going to be helping her or hurting her. He was lucky it was a similar technique to the way Merle would pop his shoulder back into place after their dad pushed him down the stairs or after the wild fist fight they had once gotten into. 

Daryl knew that Beth felt extremely guilty for her injury and for its consequential delay to their journey but he didn't mind. It had led to the past three weeks of being somewhere relatively safe with her and sharing a bed with her. It was always a relief to not have to sleep with his bag packed and at his side. He liked when both of them got to sleep at the same time as well, instead of taking turns staying up half the night to keep watch. 

They had cleared out the rest of the motel and taken the few meager supplies they could find. Well, Daryl cleared the walkers but Beth insisted on hobbling after him with the walking stick he had made for her to help him clean out the rooms. They hadn't been able to find much. Only two of the rooms had not had dead people in them so they had taken all the linens from those ones. The rest of the rooms the smell of rotting flesh had sunk into everything so they had only managed to get some soap, matches and a few things of food. 

Burning the dead had taken them an entire day. Beth had hobbled around looking for things they could use to start the fire as Daryl pulled the corpses around to the back of the motel. They had to wait until the next day to start the fire so that the flames shining through the night wouldn't lead anyone, living or dead, to their current sanctuary. 

They finally saw another sign of fellow survivors when a car sped down the street about a week after they got to the hotel. By the time they heard the engine they were unable to catch much more but the back end of a white van as it turned the corner. But just the knowledge that somewhere someone else was still alive in this mess had felt like a weight being lifted off of them. They never mentioned it but Daryl knew Beth had also felt like they were the only two people left living in this world. Sometimes that was almost a good feeling, such as when she curled into his side as they lay down to sleep at night. But most of the time it just left them feeling hopeless. 

Beth made a small noise in her sleep and rolled over onto her back. Free to move Daryl sat up slowly in order not wake her knowing she was an extremely light sleeper, a necessary survival skill in this world. Walking past the empty second bed in the room Daryl went to the window and peered out the gap in the curtains at the parking lot. There was no change in it from the previous day, except for the two crashed cars in the center it was empty. Happy that there were no walkers roaming around this morning Daryl shut the curtains tight against the morning light and headed back to the bed hoping to catch a few more moments of sleep. 

Running a hand through his outgrown hair he climbed into the bed and turned onto his side. He was just closing his eyes when he felt soft fingers touch his back. 

"Morning." he heard Beth mumble as she pressed herself close against him, spooning into his back. One of her arms snaked over his waist and he slipped his hand into hers. 

"I wake you?" he asked, he felt a bit guilty of robbing her of even seconds of precious sleep when they were in a safe place to get it. He felt her shake her head no against her back. 

"Sun." she grumbled causing him to chuckle. Beth was actually a morning person but it took her a few minutes to fully come out of slumber. She placed her head between his shoulder blades and he froze when she kissed his back, more specifically when she pressed her lips against one of his scars. 

Daryl knew she had seen the scars, had felt them when her hands grasped at his shoulders and back when they made love. He had never explained them and she had never asked. It was one of their few unspoken taboos. He didn't mention her family unless she brought it up first and she didn't mention his past unless he gave information freely. It was one of the many reasons why he loved Beth, she didn't push him and she never asked him for anything he wasn't already willing to give. 

He felt her sigh against his back as she lay her forehead between his shoulder blades. Daryl ran his fingers lightly up her arm as he stared unseeingly at the room before him. 

"My father gave them to me." he whispered. He felt Beth's eyelashes flutter against his skin as she opened her eyes. He could feel the pain of the memory on his face and found himself glad that he wasn't facing her. Daryl stared through the darkness of the room and tried to forget the sting of his father's belt against his skin. "He only did it to Merle but once he got shipped to juvie." He shrugged the best he could from his position and swallowed down the sting of saying his brother's name. "Said it was for our own good." 

They lay in silence for a moment as Daryl continued to stare out into nothing. Part of him wondered if this would change what Beth thought of him but the majority of him felt relief that now the facts were out there. He had never before said where he got those scars out loud. Just putting it out into the world felt almost freeing. 

Beth pulled her hand from his and he felt his heart seize with panic. He knew he shouldn't have told her; she would only see him differently now. Daryl clenched his jaw in anger at himself for telling her something so personal when he felt her fingers on his back again. 

Slowly Beth traced the marks on his back where his father's belt had hit him the hardest and he felt his muscles unclench. Years of tension seemed to flow out of him as she ran her fingers over the reminders of his family that he would take with him to the grave no matter how hard he tried to forget them. She didn't say anything as she touched him which was a relief. Daryl didn't want to hear apologies about something she had no part in. He didn't want her pity or her questions so it was a welcome comfort that she gave him neither. He rolled over onto his back and she looked down at him. 

Beth cupped his face in her palm and bent to kiss him, her long blonde hair falling ticklishly onto his chest. Her lips were soft against his and she pulled back quicker than he wanted. 

"I love you." she whispered her blue eyes pouring into his. Daryl reached up to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear happy that her gaze on him had not changed in the slightest. It had not adjusted to add in pity or disgust. She looked at him with the same bright blue eyes that she had always looked at him with. 

"I love you too." Daryl whispered back before pulling her down to him and crashing her lips onto his. 

"You sure you're ready for this?" Beth smiled down at her feet as she finished tugging on her boots. That had to be the fifth time that morning alone that Daryl had asked her that question. She looked over at him where he sat across from her on the edge of the other bed. 

"I'm sure." she reassured him with a smile slipping off the bed to kneel in front of him on the dirty blue carpet, resting her hands on his thighs. "My knee is fine. Its healed completely normal thanks to you." Even with her calm tone and words Daryl still looked unsure and the crease between his eyebrows did not lessen. Beth gripped his large hands in her small ones. "We can't keep hiding out here because of me." she whispered her eyes imploring him to understand. 

Daryl shook his head and mumbled. "We're not hiding. You needed to heal." 

Beth smiled. "And I have. But we should keep going. At this rate we'll never get to DC." 

He let out his breath in a slight huff. "Didn't realize you were in such a hurry." despite the joking tone of his voice Beth could still hear the genuine worry it held. 

"We're gonna be just fine." she promised as she leaned up to kiss him. "Have a little faith." 

Daryl merely nodded at her as she stood and sat back down on the bed. He pulled his jacket onto his arms before he began to search the room for any supplies they might have missed. Beth smiled softly at his back before she began to pull her long hair up into a tight ponytail. Once it was up, she sectioned off a small part and began to tightly braid it. She was just tying it off when Daryl sat down across from her again. 

"You ready?" she asked dropping her hands into her lap. 

He nodded slowly. "What's with the braid?" he finally asked, his voice curious and taking her by surprise. One of their many unspoken agreements was to never ask or mention their pasts until the other person brought it up first. She found she didn't mind though; it wasn't exactly a secret and after Daryl had shared the story about his scars with her, she didn't feel the need for either of them to hold anything back between them. 

Beth ran her tongue over her lips as she thought of how best to explain. "The day that all of this started happening my mom and I were watching tv. I don't remember what was on, some stupid movie probably. Mom was playing with my hair." Beth smiled at the memory. "She never could keep her hands still." 

That was an understatement that Beth could not think of a way to fully explain to Daryl. Her mother was constantly moving her fingers because she was so accustomed to moving them across piano keys making hauntingly beautiful melodies that filled the farm house. She was always drumming her fingers on the steering wheel or running her fingers over Hershel's arm, playing with Beth's hair. It was as though her fingers were physically unable to keep still. Even after she had been bitten and the fever started to slowly drive her to delusions and then death, her fingers were the last thing to stop moving. And the first thing to move when she came back. Beth shook her head against the memory of her parent's bedroom and the sight of her mother's chest no longer moving with breath. 

"She had just finished putting the braid in my hair when the news announcement came on." Beth explained with a shrug, her throat feeling tight with unshed tears. "It's stupid really. It just reminds me of her is all. Reminds me of when things were still simple." she ended on a whisper before shaking her head again fighting back the sharp bite of tears in her eyes. "It's stupid." she repeated clutching her hands in her lap. 

There was silence for a moment before Daryl reached over and took her hands into his. "It's not stupid." she looked up at him with a small smile as a tear finally spilled over onto her cheek. She pulled her hand away to hastily brush it away but Daryl got there first, softly brushing it off her face with his thumb. 

"It's not stupid." he repeated. Beth took a deep breath before nodding at him. She reached behind her to grab her bag and pull it onto her shoulders. 

"Ready?" she asked raising to her feet. Silently Daryl rose and followed her to the door. She paused in the doorway, her hand clutching tightly at the doorknob. "I've never stayed in a motel before this." she said turning to grin at Daryl over her shoulder in an attempt to lighten the solemn mood that had fallen between them. 

He shook his head at her. "You lose." she frowned at him in mock sadness as he adjusted the strap of his crossbow. "I've never." he paused briefly before glancing down at her, the hint of a smirk on his lips. "Had sex in a motel before this." a light blush formed on her cheeks as he gazed at her. 

"You lose." she said clearing her throat and removing her hand from the door to brush a loose hair back behind her ear. 

Daryl shrugged before reaching behind her to open the door. His face was close to hers as he whispered. "Still winning." 

Four hours of walking later the pair slowly approached a deserted gas station. The parking lot and parts of the street around it were cluttered with an assortment of abandoned cars in varying stages of disuse. They split up to look at each car separately the light breeze making the wooden sign hanging from the pumps clatter against the metal every so often, **_Out of gas_**. 

The first two cars that Beth approached had flat tires and the third's hood was crushed against another car. All of them were sporting faded paint and flecks of rust from the months, if not years, out in the elements. Hopefully, Beth approached a fourth car whose rear window was smashed in. She crept around it to the front and let out a huff of disappointment as she saw that the steering wheel was broken off and hanging from an odd angle. Sighing, she walked over to the car where Daryl sat in the driver's seat with his hands tangled in wires under the wheel. He fumbled for a few minutes his frown growing deeper as each second passed before finally leaning back in the seat. 

"Engine's dead." he grumbled squinting up at her. "Look's like we keep walking." 

Beth shrugged. "Good thing my knee healed." she said with a smile as Daryl nodded and clambered out of the car. 

"We should see if they got anything good." he said pointing at the gas station. The door hung crooked on its hinges and two of its four windows were broken. 

"You think there's anything left in there?" Beth asked in surprise as she followed him across the parking lot. 

"Won't know unless we check." he shrugged as he stopped at the door. He rapped his fist against the glass once and they both stood back to wait. Beth had counted to eighty by the time Daryl deemed it was safe enough for them to go inside. He held the broken door aside for her and she walked into the dark interior, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the sudden change in light. 

The inside was in even worse disarray than the outside. The glass refrigerators on the sides were smashed in, broken bottles spilling out of them onto the floor in a collection of broken multicolored glass. An assortment of dried leaves, various food wrappers, and three-year-old magazines littered the floor. Beth stepped around a stack of rumpled newspapers and headed to look at the counter as Daryl wandered over to the other side of the store. She was surprised to find that the cash register was open and empty but she assumed that it was likely looted before people realized what they really ought to be stealing. She ran her fingers across the dust on the counter top before stepping around it in the hopes she could find something of use in all the mess. 

She had just stepped behind it when she felt something grab her calf. She let out a yelp of surprise as she was knocked off her feet. She landed with a groan on her back and reached for her knife as she heard Daryl yell her name from across the store. Before she could respond her arms were being pinned down and something was crawling on top of her. Her heart froze in terror unwilling to believe she had survived so long only to have her throat ripped out on the floor of a gas station. The creature bent to her face and ran its nose over her neck. Her pulse began to race waiting for the pain when the thing on top of her suddenly whispered. 

"Smells sweet, not like me." it cooed with a giggle. Beth’s eyes widened and she began to struggle again as she realized that the woman on top of her was actually alive and what she intended to do with her might be worse than having her throat ripped open. 

She leaned away from Beth suddenly and Beth gazed with terror up at her. A wild tangle of brown hair covered most of her face and she grinned down at her with yellowing teeth. Her bright eyes held a wild frantic look as Beth fought to buck the woman off of her. She began to leer when Daryl vaulted over the counter and shoved his knife through the woman's temple. Beth watched with wide eyes as the wild look faded from her eyes and a small bubble of blood burst on her lips. 

Daryl heaved the body off of her and reached down for Beth’s hand. She brushed his hand away and turned over onto all fours before heaving up the meager contents of her stomach. 

"Did it bite you?" Daryl's voice was thick with fear as he reached over and touched her neck. She flinched away from his touch and sat back on her haunches, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. 

"Beth?" Daryl questioned, bending down to her level. "Are you bit?" he repeated trying to mask the terror in his voice but failing miserably. 

She shook her head before dropping her head into her hands. "She was alive." she whispered looking at her lap. Daryl made a small noise and she looked up at him. "She was _alive_." she repeated her voice thick with emotion. 

Daryl looked at her in confusion before his face seemed to close off. "Don't." he whispered his voice tight. "Don't you shed one fucking tear for that woman. Do you have any idea what she could have done to you?" his voice was slowly getting louder but Beth shook her head frantically against his words. 

"I'm not upset that she's dead!" she cried, interrupting Daryl's rant and causing him to stare blankly at her. She fought for the words to explain what she was feeling as she struggled to regain her breath. 

It was true, she wasn't upset that she was dead, in fact she was almost _glad_ that she was. Beth wasn’t exactly sure what the woman had planned to do to her but she could see the wicked sharp blade strapped to her leg and she was sure it wasn’t anything good. Judging from the bloodstains on it she had already used it on other people. Now at least she couldn’t hurt anybody else. Beth wasn't upset because she had to watch her die either. Beth had seen plenty of death in the last few years. She had watched her own father get beheaded in front of her barely even half a year past. Nor was Beth upset that Daryl had killed someone, she knew he had done that before and she herself had shot to kill on the day that the prison was overrun. 

As Daryl's piercing blue eyes stared at her she struggled to put what was upsetting her into words. "She was alive." she choked out again. Daryl looked like he was about to rise in fury and walk away from her before she managed to choke out what was upsetting her so much. "And my father's not." 

Daryl's brow furrowed as he settled back onto the floor and looked at her. Beth shook her head, tears blurring her vision. "Lori's not. Patricia's not. T-Dog. Andrea." her voice cracked on the names and she choked back a sob. "They were good people." she explained looking up at Daryl through her tears. He gazed at her sadly, his anger having clearly left him as he began to understand why she was crying and huddled on the floor of the gas station. 

"They were good people and they're dead while people like her get to keep living!" Beth cried out flinging her arm in the direction of the corpse laying only feet from them. A sob fled from her lips as she collapsed in a huddle over her knees. "Maggie might be dead but people like her are still walking around." she sobbed into her lap, the words muffled against her jeans. "Is there anybody good left?" She felt Daryl's hand on her back and try as she might she could not get the tears to stop falling. Daryl's hand grasped her arm and pulled her into a sitting position. She took a deep breath to try to get the tears to stop, embarrassed for falling apart so completely. 

Beth tried to pull herself out of Daryl's arms. "I'll be okay. I'll be okay." she whispered trying to tug her hands free to brush away the tears or hide her face. Daryl's arms only wrapped tighter around her as he pulled her onto his lap. Beth bit her lip and tucked her head into Daryl's shoulder as she tried to gain control of the sobs still tearing through her. 

"There are still good people left." Daryl whispered into her ear as he reached up to stroke her hair. Beth closed her eyes against the sight of the corpse and turned to bury her face in Daryl's chest. "Maggie is still out there somewhere." he continued breaking the last part of control Beth had on her tears. That was the first time he had said such a thing as a definite and not as a possibility and it caused the tears to flood out of her like a dam had broken. Her sobs were so loud she almost didn’t hear Daryl whisper, "Have faith."


	5. Chapter 5

Daryl clutched at the long tangled strands of Beth's hair, pulling them back from her face as she vomited onto the side of the road. Her stomach had long since been empty of food but as they stood in the chilly air of the afternoon light she continued to throw up yellow film that reeked of stomach acid. Finally, she coughed dryly a few times before taking a deep breath and pushing herself into a standing position. She wiped her hand across her mouth before spitting to the side. 

"Better?" Daryl asked as he let go of her hair. Beth nodded, an embarrassed look on her face. 

"Sorry." she whispered in a small voice to which Daryl shook his head. It wasn't as though he'd never seen someone throwing up before. The amount of times he'd seen Merle empty his stomach after drinking too much was astounding. 

"Some kills are just messy." he said with a shrug looking over his shoulder at the walker whose head he had crushed against the floor with his boot upon which point Beth had begun to throw up more than she actually had eaten in days. 

She ran her hands over her now pale face and shook her head again. "And to think I used to have such a strong stomach." Daryl passed her a water bottle which she took gratefully. Taking a small sip she rinsed her mouth out and spit to the side again. "Ugh." she groaned. "What I wouldn't give for a stick of gum." 

"Wanna take a detour then?" Daryl asked as she passed him back the water bottle and they started down the highway again. 

"What do you have in mind?" Beth looked at him with a small smile as the color began to slowly return to her face. 

"Saw a sign a few miles back for a town coming up around here." Daryl explained as he hitched his bag higher up on his shoulders. "We need to set up camp for the night anyways." he said looking over sideways at Beth. He didn't say it but he was thinking they needed to get her some medicine too. Ever since the gas station two days ago she had gotten sick four times. Daryl was beginning to think she might have caught a bug from the woman who had attacked her. He didn't say anything to her about it because he didn't want to worry her. He also didn't want to worry himself any more than he already was. He hoped it was just a small stomach flu and not some strain of the flu that had taken over the prison. Daryl was no doctor; sure, he could fix up cuts and bruises but he'd had plenty of experience with those types of injuries. Diseases were a whole other matter that were not his expertise. He had decided that morning when he had woken up to Beth throwing up at the edge of their camp that they needed to get some medicine in her. Unfortunately, they had been on a lone stretch of highway all day and the closest town was still miles away. 

"Think you can make it?" Daryl asked her as they passed a sign nearly half an hour later promising the town's exit would be in five miles. 

Beth smiled at him and nodded. Admittedly she didn't look too sick which was one of the only things appeasing Daryl's frantically worrying mind. When the people at the prison had been sick, you could tell they were ill. They were pale and sweaty and despite throwing up, Beth looked to be perfectly normal. Beth hadn't started having the cough that had racked the prison yet either. 

"Where do you want to stay tonight?" she asked a few minutes later as they made their way along. Daryl looked back at her; he had been distracted by the dark clouds that had begun to roll in from the east. He paused to think it over, his brow crinkling in thought. He needed to get her medicine but how to explain his desire to sleep in a pharmacy in a way that wasn't odd? She'd be better off sleeping in a bed anyway than on a cold store floor. 

"We'll find a house." he decided. Then she could sleep on a bed and if there was no medicine to be found there, he would simply sneak out and find a pharmacy on his own. No need for her to be put in more danger when she was sick anyway. 

"Daryl?" he snapped out of his darkening thoughts at her inquiring tone. "What's wrong?" her large blue eyes stared at him, worry filling them to the brim. 

He was saved from answering as a walker had begun to shuffle onto the road in front of them. A quick shot from his cross bow later the body crumpled to the ground. As they approached it silently Daryl bent and retrieved his arrow mentally reminding himself that he needed to make more that night. He was down to only five bolts now and he did not relish the idea of coming up empty handed one day. 

"That's the eighth one today." Beth whispered as they continued on. Daryl nodded as he loaded the bolt back into his quiver. They were beginning to see more walkers as they neared larger cities. Part of him wondered exactly what they would be walking into when they got to DC but a larger part of him didn't really care. That was something they could deal with later. He had much more important things to worry about right now. 

They made the rest of their trek into the town in silence, both all too aware that any extra noise would only draw more walkers to them. Daryl led them down the first exit they came to and cursed to himself when he realized that he had taken them into the downtown area instead of a residential center. They ducked down a side street and cautiously made their way down a back alley, Beth quickly putting down the one walker that was aimlessly wandering down it. 

"We should go inside somewhere." she whispered next to Daryl's ear. He nodded, there were way too many walkers on the streets for them to keep wandering around, especially with darkness fast approaching. Daryl refused to let this trip be in vain so he peered around the corner of the alley and scanned the names of the storefronts. Gratefully he spied a sign for a pharmacy at the end of the block. Roughly ten or so walkers filled the street between them and the store. 

"We going to the pharmacy." Daryl whispered back. Beth opened her mouth as if she was going to ask him why they would risk crossing the street when they could choose somewhere much closer but she simply nodded at him after a moment of silence. The amount of trust she put in him always surprised him. 

They crept to the end of the alley and Beth looked up at him again, mouthing the word "Plan?" at him. Daryl shrugged back at her and mouthed, "Run." 

That was all the motivation she needed. Beth ran out of the alley, her knife unsheathed and held tight in her hand as Daryl followed her out, his crossbow held at the ready. The walkers on the street turned towards them but neither of them slowed until they reached the pharmacy storefront. Beth made to go for the door but Daryl grabbed her arm and pulled her around the side of the shop instead. Leaving Beth to keep guard he managed to jimmy open the locked back door to the building in another trick he was suddenly grateful his brother had taught him. He grabbed Beth by the arm and pulled her in after him, slamming the door shut behind them. 

Beth gasped as they were plunged into darkness and Daryl cursed lightly. Digging in his pockets he came up with a book of matches and he lit one carefully. Holding it high over his head he locked the door they had come through again and led Beth through the small storeroom of supplies to the door into the main part of the store. Satisfied that the room they were in was empty Daryl slowly opened the door into the front half and knocked his bow against the door frame lightly. They waited with their breath held but nothing stirred inside. 

Slowly the pair moved out into the store, Beth still clutching her knife. Daryl was pleased to see that the walkers on the street had forgotten them already and had simply returned to their aimless wandering. He was grateful his plan of not going through the front doors had worked. Since the walkers hadn't seen where they had gone, they had given up on finding them. 

Beth let out a sudden gasp and he turned towards the shelves she stood by quickly. "You alright?" he whispered. Her back was towards him but he thought she shoved something in her pocket before turning towards him with a shaky smile. 

"Yeah, sorry I thought I saw a rat." Beth smiled at him shakily in the dim light from the windows before she started looking at the shelves again, running her fingers over the thick layer of dust on them. "You see any mints?" she asked hopefully. 

Daryl shook his head and joined her in her browsing, only he searched instead for flu medicine. A few minutes later he heard Beth give a small satisfied cry and she turned towards him with a pack of gum in her hands. 

He shook his head at her bright smile as she walked back over to him unwrapping the cellophane as she did so. 

"I've never stolen from a store before." she admitted as she popped a stick of gum in her mouth before turning the pack towards Daryl. 

"Point." he admitted with a shrug as he removed a stick of gum from the pack. He had stolen plenty of candy from stores as a child. As he grew older Merle continued to steal, taking alcohol and cigarettes whenever he could. Daryl had reaped the rewards with him but he had never taken part in the acquisition of the goods. 

Beth's gaze on him didn't change at all as she waited for his reply. Daryl was still surprised when she didn't judge his answers, no matter what they were. He always felt as though his past would convince her to leave him or to treat him differently but she always accepted his past as just that, the past. He wished he could the same. 

"I've never swallowed gum." he came up with as the mint flavor sprang over his tongue. Beth grinned at him. 

"Really?" she asked in surprised. "Not even as a kid?" 

Daryl shrugged and shook his head no at her. 

"Well point." Beth admitted as she pocketed the pack. "I used to think gum was candy so I always swallowed it. Then Shawn told me that a doctor was going to have to cut the gum out of me and I didn't chew gum again until I was fourteen." she shook her head with a laugh at the memory. "Course Shawn also convinced me that if I ate watermelon seeds one would grow in my stomach." 

Daryl snorted. "You believe him?" Beth grinned sheepishly at him and Daryl chuckled. "How old were you?" 

A light blush spread across Beth's face. "Twelve." she admitted causing Daryl to actually laugh out loud. She grinned back at him but their merriment was suddenly cut off as a loud crack of thunder filled the air. Both turned to look out the shop window where large raindrops were beginning to splatter on the pavement outside. 

Sighing, Daryl handed Beth the bottle of anti-nausea pills he had found. She took it with a raised eyebrow but opened it without question. "Looks like we're staying here tonight." Daryl said as he turned to the back of the store again. "Let's see if they've got an employee room back here." Beth dry swallowed the pill before following him back into the dark room, another clap of thunder sounding behind them. 

Sucking in her breath Beth slowly lifted Daryl's arm from where it lay heavy across her stomach. As slowly as possible she eased off of the worn blue couch and onto the carpeted floor, softly placing Daryl's arm back onto the couch that filled over half of the space in the pharmacy's tiny employee break room. Soundlessly rising to her feet, she carefully stepped around the table that took up most of the remaining space of the room and slipped out of the door and into the blackness of the chilly storeroom. 

Claps of thunder could still be heard from outside as well as the patter of rain on the ceiling but the storm seemed to be reaching its last legs. Thunderstorms used to be Beth's favorite type of weather and a small part of her wished that she could be outside watching the lightning streak across the turbulent sky. The feeling of rain running down her skin would be a welcome relief as well. One never got truly clean using soap and bottled water, or the baby wipes that they had found in the pharmacy earlier that afternoon. The thought of being completely clean seemed like such an impossible task now that Beth could honestly not believe that she ever used to complain when her family had used up all of the hot water. Even a cold shower would be heaven these days. 

Having memorized the layout of where she needed to go earlier that night Beth placed her hand on the wall to her left and tiptoed the four feet to the only other door on that wall. As she eased it shut behind her, she let out a sigh of relief that Daryl had not woken up. She would have felt pleased with herself for not waking up the lightest sleeper she had ever met were she not so nauseously worried. Flicking on her small flashlight she bent to wiggle the small cardboard box out of the cupboard under the sink where she had wedged it earlier. The moment that Daryl had put his arm around her when they lay down to sleep, she had been grateful for the foresight to remove the box from her waistband where she had shoved it upon finding it. 

The moment she had seen the small blue box on the cluttered pharmacy shelves she felt her whole being freeze in both terror and understanding. At this point she felt like the contents of the box were merely a formality. The second she had laid eyes on it she had started to count off all the signs she knew of and she could honestly not believe that it had taken her so long to realize what should have been obvious weeks ago. 

Holding the flashlight between her teeth she read the instructions on the back silently before opening the cardboard flap with shaking fingers. The small white stick looked so harmless in her hands that Beth was almost fooled into thinking that this wasn't going to be as bad as she anticipated, that maybe she really did just have a flu or a stomach virus like Daryl thought. 

Not wanting to take the risk of ignorance she did as the instructions told her and peed on the stick, a whole level of awkwardness she had never felt before even though she was alone in the dark and dank smelling bathroom. Despite the dirt and disrepair of the bathroom Beth wished she could always have one on hand. However, it was surprisingly easy how quickly one got used to urinating in the woods. 

As she stood and re-buttoned her jeans she sat the test carefully on the edge of the sink and flipped off the flashlight. There was no need to drain the batteries and, honestly, she'd rather not look at that stick again until she absolutely had to. Her mind was frantic enough already without the aid of a visual. 

Leaning back against the cold bathroom wall part of her desperately wanted Daryl to be there with her for this agonizing wait but a larger part of her thought that this was going to be bad enough without him worrying along with her. Beth herself had mixed enough feelings on this. She did not know what she wanted the test to say, she knew what she thought the test would say, but she did not know how she actually felt. Her mind and emotions had been in such an insane whirlwind since she had found the test that she couldn't pinpoint a single one. 

Beth found her thoughts inexplicably being drawn to Judith and she sank down the wall to crouch on her hunches, burying her head in her hands. Thinking of Judith was almost as bad as thinking about Maggie, actually Beth thought that it might even be worse. She knew her sister was tough; she was certainly tougher than Beth could ever dream of being. Maggie made it out of the prison, that was something she was slowly beginning to think of as a fact. Thinking that of course didn't make it any easier for her because it often led to her thinking that something bad had happened to her sister after she got out of the prison. It was the only reason she could think of for them not finding her, for not finding anyone. They had all run into some danger that Beth and Daryl had somehow managed to avoid. 

But Beth knew in her heart that somehow Maggie got out, whether or not she was with Glenn Beth wasn't too sure of. The last she knew of Glenn he was inside of A block and he was so sick that she honestly didn't know what she thought could have happened to him. She hoped that he was still alive and that Maggie and him were together. But if she or Glenn couldn't be with Maggie than Beth just hoped that she wasn't out there somewhere alone. 

There were other people that Beth was sure had survived of course. For a long time after they hadn't immediately found anyone from the prison alive, she hadn't been able to believe that anyone else had survived for very long on the other side of the fences. But as time passed and as the distance from their memories grew Beth slowly began to find hope in herself that others were alive. 

She knew that Tyresse would have made it out, Sasha too. They were both tough and both of them had been on the road before. Beth hoped they were together but at the very least she was content with the assurance in herself that they were alive. 

Michonne, if she had managed to get away from the Governor's people, she was still alive. She was the toughest person Beth had ever met, even tougher than Daryl although Beth would never admit to that to his face. If there was anyone who could survive out there in this world it was her. 

Those were the only four people that Beth honestly believed had made it out unhurt. She had seen Rick in his fight with the Governor, she hadn't seen the ending though so for all she knew Rick had died in the prison. While she hoped with everything she had that he had survived Beth honestly felt that him dying there would be strangely fitting. It was because of Rick that they had made the prison a home and it made sense that he would die when it did. And if he died there, he would be with Lori. 

And her father. 

Beth took a deep breath and leaned her head back against the wall. It had been so long since she had let herself truly think about her father. The pain of his loss, of watching him die so brutally, still haunted her every day. It had been slowly getting easier. Daryl had a way of making her focus on the present rather than drown in the past. The pain never truly went away though, it just ebbed. Like Andrea told her all those years ago, she just made room for it. 

Thinking of Rick made her think of Carl. She hoped he made it out too but she didn't think he could have made it on his own. As tough as he was, he was still a child. Carl needed someone to help protect him, usually from himself. Beth tore her thoughts from him, that still hurt too much too. 

Beth wondered if she would ever be able to remember the happy memories she had at the prison without being haunted by ghosts and 'what ifs.' She stared unseeingly though the darkness as she counted off the time in her head. She still had another minute to wait for the test results. 

Her thoughts kept shoving the one face to her mind that she truly did not think she could deal with. Not here, alone, waiting for the results of a pregnancy test in the dark. 

No matter what she tried to think of though her brain refused to cooperate with her and the memory of Judith hit her with the force of a bullet train, knocking the breath out of her chest and causing her to rock back on her heels. Beth shut her eyes tight as tears swarmed her vision. 

Thinking of Judith was so painful it was close to the pain of thinking of her father. Beth had tried so hard to find Judith, to find any of the kids before she fled with Daryl but she had failed. She was always the one who took care of Judith the most, she loved her as if she really was her own daughter as so many of the newcomers always first expected. Beth was supposed to protect her and she had failed. 

The guilt was always the worst part, the real reason why she couldn't even stand to say her name out loud. Her father's death was tragic and awful but no one's fault but the man who had butchered him. But Judith...well to put it in Daryl's terms, that was on her. 

Was she really about to bring another child into this horrible world when she had already cost one baby her life? 

Beth let out a quiet sob before shoving her fist in her mouth. The last thing she needed was for Daryl to wake up and find her before she saw the results. Shaking her head at herself angrily she ran her fingers under her eyes to brush off the few stubborn tears that had managed to escape and pushed herself shakily to her feet. With trembling fingers she ran her hands through her hair before stepping forward and grabbing the plastic stick off of the counter. Holding her breath, she flipped the flashlight back on, the high beam filling the room suddenly. Beth blinked spots out of her eyes at the sudden light. As her eyes adjusted Beth took a deep breath and managed to talk herself into looking down at the results she now held in her hand. 

She blinked in surprise as she comprehended just exactly what the test was telling her. As she stared at the pregnancy test her breath left her lungs slowly and she was finally able to put a word to what she had been feeling. 

Longing. 

His hand kept searching the worn surface of the couch for the warmth he was so used to accompanying his sleeping form, unaccustomed to coming up empty. Daryl frowned into the crease of his elbow where his head rested and slowly opened his eyes, blinking the aftereffects of sleep from them. Beth was not on the couch beside him where she had been the last time he saw her before they fell asleep. Sitting up he looked around the room that was flooded with the gray light of dawn and realized she was not there either. 

Yawning he stood and shoved his feet into his boots before making his way out into the stockroom. Daryl headed into the storefront of the pharmacy happy to see that the store's windows had not been shattered during the storm last night. He had gone to sleep half expecting to be dragged out of it in the middle of the night by a group of walkers falling into the window in their frantic search to find the source of the noise that the thunderstorm was producing. 

Stepping over a collection of shampoo bottles that had fallen onto the floor he felt his heart begin to beat a little bit more frantically with worry when he didn't immediately spot Beth. Telling himself that she wouldn't have gone far he made to turn and walk back to the break room when a small noise caught his attention. He found himself wishing he had grabbed his bow as he crept silently towards the sound. He darted around the register counter his fist raised and froze in confusion at the sight of Beth curled up on the floor. 

Daryl lowered his fist sheepishly and looked down at her in confusion. Beth was leaning back against the counter, her knees drawn to her chest with her arms wrapped around them. Her face was buried into her knees and for a moment Daryl could not tell if she was awake or not. Then he recognized the small hitch in her breath that she always got when she was crying and he stepped forward to crouch down on the dusty tiled floor next to her. 

"Beth." he whispered, wanting to reach out for her but unsure if she would want to be touched at the moment. A thousand thoughts crossed his mind at why she would be crying but considering their lives for the past few years all were equally as likely. 

He heard her suck in her breath in surprise before she lifted her head from her knees. She did not look at him as she brushed at the tears still streaking through the dust on her face. 

"I didn't hear you get up." she whispered, sniffling and running her sleeve under her nose before looking up at him. Her eyes were bloodshot, red from tears that had clearly been going on for a while. 

Not sure of how to ask why she was crying without making her cry more Daryl reached forward and wiped away the few stray tears still lingering on her cheeks. Beth smiled at him sadly before leaning her face into his hand and reaching up to place her small hand over his. 

"Wanna talk about it?" he finally settled on asking, struggling to keep his tone nonchalant. 

Beth let out a humorless laugh and dropped his hand, shaking her head sadly. "No. Not just yet." 

Daryl felt a surprisingly vivid flash of pain at her admission. He knew she didn't have to tell him everything but he thought that they were past the point of hiding things from each other. He didn't see the point of having secrets from each other anymore. She was all he had left in the world, if she started to pull away from him Daryl honestly didn't know how he would handle it. 

She must have seen the flash of hurt Daryl felt before he could mask it away because she immediately reached forward and grabbed his hands. "I'll tell you. I promise." she looked up at him with her bright blue eyes and despite the tears Daryl could see the truth there. "I just need a bit longer to wrap my own mind around it, you know?" 

Daryl shrugged before he removed his hands from hers and stood. Honestly, he didn't know. What could she need to wrap her mind around? It wasn't like anything new had happened to them since yesterday. Ever since the prison fell, they had gone through everything together. Eventually they got through everything together. He just thought that was how they worked now. 

He sighed and reached down to offer a hand to Beth. She took it slowly and let him help pull her to her feet. 

"Daryl." she whispered, clearly able to see some of the inner turmoil he was feeling. 

The worst part of it all was that he felt guilty for wanting her to confide in him before she was ready. Lord knew that he had gone completely stoic on her for weeks before lashing out at her in a manhandling fit of rage that most people would have held against him. Beth wasn't like most people of course and she had never mentioned the fit or held it against him in the slightest. He sighed to himself. He was acting childish; relationships were just still so new to him. Especially since they certainly played by different rules now. But he knew he couldn't be mad at Beth wanting to keep some things to herself, that was her right. 

Straightening his shoulders Daryl turned back to Beth and leaned forward, placing a light kiss on her forehead. "Just tell me when you're ready." he said as he stepped back. 

They spent the rest of the morning raiding the pharmacy for supplies before sneaking out through the back door and sprinting from the town. About a mile out Beth began to clearly favor her knee and despite the fact that she looked healthy in the morning light Daryl still feared she might be growing sick. He allowed them to slow to a walk but refused to let either of them speak until they were a few miles farther from the town. It was always hard to be sure if walkers had followed them out and speaking would only draw unnecessary attention to themselves which was the last thing that they needed. 

As the day wore on the sun began to beat down on them with the first real heat they had felt in a long time. Daryl shed his coat and Beth smiled at him as she removed hers as well. The sunlight hitting his bare arms was one of the best feelings he'd had in a while. Spring was officially in full swing. 

Near midafternoon they began to pass signs for a vineyard and winery. As they neared the long dirt road that had green arrows pointing customers in the right direction Daryl finally broke the silence they had fallen into since the morning. 

"Feel like picking some grapes?" he asked as he pointed towards the signs. Beth looked over at them, running her tongue over her lips before nodding. 

They turned and headed down the worn dirt path the sight of the vineyard slowly coming into view as they progressed in silence. "I've never been to a vineyard." Beth said softly, she was clearly unsure if Daryl was still put off with her from their brief misunderstanding that morning. He wasn't and he had begun to feel guilty for overreacting, he chalked it up to having just woken up at the time. 

"You lose." Daryl said with a snort. "Never much liked the taste of wine." he continued with a shrug as he hitched his bag higher up his shoulder. It was significantly heavier after their raid on the pharmacy. 

"I've never had wine." Beth admitted causing Daryl to frown at her, reaching over to tug on the end of her ponytail. 

"Two for one? That's cheap, cheater." he teased as she giggled and pushed his hand away from her hair. 

"I was just telling you. I wasn't trying to get points." she explained. Daryl felt pleased to see that the sadness from the morning had all but fled from her eyes. 

"Well you should have saved that one. Would've been an easy point. This is why you ain't winning Greene." Daryl laughed as she stuck her tongue out at him. 

"It's your turn." she said a few moments later and he furrowed his brow in thought. They had both been running low on obvious ones for a while. 

"I've never dyed my hair." he finally said, silently congratulating himself when Beth groaned. 

"Point." at his curious look she shook her head pinching the bridge of her nose between her fingers. "It was spray dye from a can for a football game. It was purple and a disastrous mess." 

Daryl was still grinning at the mental image of Beth with purple hair when they came up on the first of the grape vines. Silently the pair began to pick from the first vines they came to, filling their pockets and Daryl's bandanna with the small fruit. When their pockets were bulging, they turned to head back towards the road, there was no use risking wandering through the vines where they couldn't see far when they could get enough from one vine. 

"Did you want to try wine?" Daryl asked as they were halfway down the road. He had been distracted during their game and had not thought of going into the actual winery. He pointed back over his shoulder. "We could check out the winery. Building might be clear." 

Beth bit her lip and shook her head. "No that's okay." she whispered looking down at the dusty road under her worn out boots. 

Daryl frowned. "It's really not as bad as I said. I just don't like it." he explained trying to erase the strange look suddenly on Beth's face. 

"It's not that." she whispered running her hands up her arms as though she was fighting off a chill even though the temperature had not changed from its warmth. 

"What is it then?" Daryl asked, finally giving into the curiosity that had been building in him since that morning. She didn't respond right away, she just kept walking and staring down at her feet. "Beth?" he asked suddenly worried, reaching over to grab her upper arm. 

Beth suddenly stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. Her blues eyes were wide as she looked up at him. "I took a pregnancy test last night." she confessed. 

Daryl blinked at her in surprise. That was certainly not something that he had been expecting her to say. A sudden connection came to him then and he cursed himself for not seeing it earlier. Lori had been sick for months when she was pregnant with Judith and one of Merle's friends often complained that his pregnant girlfriend kept getting sick in the mornings. Beth only ever seemed to get sick in the mornings and she showed no other signs of illness. He has skipped over the most obvious explanation and assumed she was deadly ill. Why hadn't he made the actual connection? 

"I wanted to tell you before I took the test but I just didn't want to worry you if it was nothing." she continued on in a whisper, Daryl could hear the sound of tears in her throat. 

The true meaning of her statement was not lost on him. "So, it's not nothing?" he whispered back to her softly. Beth let out a sob and rose her hands to cover her mouth as she shook her head frantically. 

"Beth?" Daryl questioned, unsure of what her frenzied reaction meant. Slowly he reached forward and gripped her upper arms lightly. "Beth?" he repeated softly as his heart beat double time against his chest. 

"I'm pregnant." she finally managed to choke out between sobs looking up at him desperately. "We're gonna have a baby." As she collapsed against his chest Daryl felt a swell of emotions rush through him. Strangely, his first thought was elation. He never expected to be a father let alone to be a father with someone as amazing as Beth. The second thought was remorse as he thought of Little Ass Kicker and her almost certain demise. Third he felt anger at himself for not being more careful about this, this world was no place to try to raise a child. And finally, he felt an overwhelming swell of terror. 

Lori had died during childbirth and he was no doctor. If they couldn't find someone to deliver the baby and something went wrong, he would have no idea what to do. Daryl wrapped his arms tighter around Beth and pulled her shaking body closer to him. Guilt began to seep into him with each of her wracking sobs. If something went wrong, she would die because of him. He might have just killed her. 

He might as well dig her a grave now. 

The few leaves beginning to form on the trees fluttered slowly in the light breeze. Somewhere high in the trees a few birds sang out to each other and the chattering of squirrels could be heard just under them. The sounds of spring were making the world come alive with noises around them but Beth and Daryl were silent as they walked down the highway, as they had been for the last two days. 

Beth shot Daryl a look out of the corner of her eye and sighed at the stoic expression still in place on his face. They hadn't exchanged more than a few words with each other since she had told him that she was pregnant. She could barely understand what was going through her own mind and she didn't have the faintest idea of what was going through his. All she knew was that she wanted to talk about the fact that they were now going to have a child together. She wanted to come up with a plan, there was so much work that babies needed and she had no idea where to start. 

She had no idea what to do anymore, whether she thought that they should keep on going to DC or if they should just find a safe place to be. She didn't know if they should work on trying to find a place for her to have the baby, or a doctor. Beth really didn't know much of anything at this point, not when it came to this. Sure, she could take care of a baby, but only after it was born. The steps leading up to that were all new to her. 

That afternoon they passed a rest area and Daryl motioned for them to take the exit down to it. Their latest food strategy was to check everywhere for vending machines or any food they could find. Daryl didn't like the idea of Beth eating meat that might not have gotten all the way cooked over the fire. Of course, eating potato chips and crackers wasn't a very suitable diet for a pregnant woman either but there was less risk involved with that. At the very least Beth had the prenatal vitamins she had taken from the pharmacy which would get her at least some of what she and the baby needed. 

There were a few walkers milling around the rest area but after a few moments and some quick head shots they were all down and the pair continued past the fallen corpses. At least Daryl let her help out with those, she did not relish the idea of feeling useless because of this. 

Luckily, the rest area had not only a vending machine with food but one with drinks as well. They had been running out of water for a while now and the few streams that they had stumbled upon had not contained water that looked fit for drinking. 

Daryl broke the glass fronts of the machines as Beth kept watch, the sound of the breaking glass shattered the still air around them followed by the tinkering of broken glass as it hit the concrete. He pulled everything useful out of the machines and worked on shoving it into their bags which were now full with supplies. A few minutes later he stood and walked past Beth silently handing her her bag. Pulling the straps onto her shoulders and sheathing her knife she followed him back onto the highway where they continued on in a silence that began to feel louder and louder. 

"Are you ever going to talk to me?" Beth finally snapped in anger as the day wore on. She could not handle much more of this silence; it was driving her crazier than her own tumultuous thoughts. 

Daryl glanced over at her once before looking forward at the small town the highway was beginning to cut through. "What do you want me to say?" he finally grunted, not looking at her. 

Beth stopped in the road and threw her hands into the air. "Anything!" she cried, struggling to keep her voice down. She could feel Daryl beginning to slip into the person he had been when they had left the prison and she did not think that she would be able to handle it if he did, nor did she know if he would ever be able to come out of that shell again. "Daryl, I know we didn't plan this. I know the timing of this is horrible but _please_. Don't make it any worse than it has to be." she pleaded stepping closer to him. How could he not see how much this was hurting her? As if worrying about their future, and the future of their child, was not enough he had to block her out. It was just all too much. She was barely holding onto her own sanity these past few days and the silent treatment was not making this whole thing any easier for either of them. 

Daryl looked down at her with guarded blue eyes. "Please don't shut me out." Beth pleaded, crossing her arms over her chest as if that would protect her from the blankness of his gaze. 

"Maybe it'd be better if I did." he said quietly a small hint of pain in his voice as he looked away from her and down the road again. 

Beth shook her head in confusion, what good would that do either of them? "Why?" 

He shrugged still refusing to look at her. "It'll make it hurt less when it happens." he explained, his low voice thick with emotion. 

She still didn't understand what he was talking about. It was like he was intentionally trying to not make sense. "When what happens?" she pressed, needing to understand where he was coming from in all this. 

Daryl sighed in frustration. "When having the baby kills you." he finally snapped, looking at her with pain in his eyes. 

Beth stepped backwards as if he had slapped her, her arms dropping to her sides. Her mouth fell open to protest, to say something but nothing immediately came to mind. At least now she finally understood what had been going through his head these past few days. All she had been worried about was how cruel it seemed to bring a life into this terrible world and what they were going to do about it while all he had been thinking about was whether or not she would survive the process. She'd be lying if she said that thought hadn't also crossed her mind but she had held onto the hope that for thousands of years women had given birth naturally. She knew what had happened to Lori but that was due to complications. Beth had refused to let herself worry about the birthing process because she knew that was something she was going to have to deal with no matter how much she worried about it. She wanted to save herself any extra terror and so had locked that worry away to deal with when the baby was coming. Clearly, Daryl had not had the same thought process. 

Beth stepped forward and placed her hand lightly on Daryl's arm. He shook it off and stepped back from her, gazing at her with wild eyes and a pained expression. 

"You could die because of this Beth." he whispered; his eyes boring into her with his intensity. "You could die because of me." he turned from her then, staring back down the road as if it held all the answers he would ever need. 

Beth shook her head and pulled on his arm to get him to look at her. Not a single part of her believed that statement. She had had just as much of a say in them having sex, she had known the risks just as well as he had. No matter what happened to her, or the baby, none of it would be his fault. When Daryl finally complied and looked back at her she took his face gently in her hands, marveling at the familiar feel of the scruff on his cheeks against her hands. 

"You did not get me pregnant alone." she insisted softly. "I was there too, it's my fault too." Daryl closed his eyes and opened his mouth to say something but she placed a finger lightly on his lips to stop him. 

"What happened to Lori does not happen to everyone." she whispered going straight to what she knew had to be his deepest fear. "I can survive this Daryl. It's going to be tough and it's going to hurt but I can survive this." Daryl finally opened his eyes to look down at her. "I'm not going to leave you or this baby." she insisted, desperate to get through to him. 

"You might not have a choice." he retorted back but Beth could hear a hint of him beginning to believe her there. 

Beth smiled up at him sadly. "I'm a fighter. I'll fight." Daryl nodded sadly at her words, reaching up to hold her hands, his eyes locked on hers. "Don't shut me out Daryl. Please." she whispered; her throat tight. 

Daryl sighed and dropped her hands. "I won't." he whispered softly. 

"Promise?" the word came out as a breath, barely even a whisper. 

Daryl pulled her forward into his arms which she fell into gratefully. Though it had only been days it had felt like they had been on opposite sides of the world for weeks. "I promise." he kissed the top of her head lightly and Beth sighed into his chest. Finally, something felt right again. It was all the hope she needed to keep going right now. 

"We can do this." she whispered into his shirt before pulling back to look him in the eyes. "I know we can do this." 

Daryl nodded and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Though he still looked worried and unsure the closed off expression had left him and he did not seem quite as terrified as before. While she knew that he would likely hold that guilt and fear inside him until she had the baby, she felt that it was a good start. "We can do this." he agreed. They turned slowly to begin to walk down the road again. 

"Are you happy, at all?" Beth asked in a quiet voice as they walked, almost afraid for the answer. Daryl was quiet for a moment as he mulled it over. 

"Yeah." he finally said causing Beth to look at him with a hopeful grin. He met her gaze with a small smile and a shrug. "I guess I am." 

"Me too." she whispered grabbing his hand. He squeezed her hand lightly and she felt the last remains of tension drain from her chest. Sure, they still had a lot to figure out but they were on the same side now. Together they could do this, for all three of them. 

They walked for a few minutes in silence, this time a much more comfortable one. As they passed a few houses Beth pointed towards one of them where a tire swing hung from a large tree, swinging lightly in the breeze. 

"I've never been on a tire swing," she said lightly in an attempt to return them to their previous selves. Daryl followed the line of her finger and gazed at the swing before turning towards her. 

"You lose." he admitted with a shrug. 

"Really?" Beth asked hopefully, smiling when he nodded. She gripped his hand tighter and turned towards the swing pulling him after her. He protested lightly but let her pull him along. "We have to use this one then." she said happily as they approached the swing. Daryl groaned but followed her across the overgrown lawn before dropping his bag beside hers. "It'll be a first for both of us." Beth told him with a smile as Daryl held the swing steady and she carefully clambered onto it. He jumped onto it quickly before it began to move and she giggled, the toes of her boots just brushing the grass. 

She grinned as he pushed off from the dirt and the tire began to swing lightly, slowly turning them in a circle as it went. 

"As much fun as you expected?" Daryl asked lightly as he placed his hands over hers on the rope. 

Beth nodded with a smile as the pain and tension of the past few days were erased between them. She leaned her head against the rope and looked at him. "It's even better." 

Daryl met her smile without hesitation and she felt her heart warm. While their problems were far from over it seemed like the worst part might just be behind them. They still had a lot of planning to do and Beth knew it was not going to be smooth sailing bringing a baby into this already troublesome world but she knew if Daryl was by her side, she could get anything done. As a team, they could do this. 

"I love you." she whispered looking into his eyes. Beth thought she heard the sound of a door behind her but she didn't turn around to check as Daryl leaned forward with a whispered. "I love you too." Carefully he closed the distance between them and kissed her. 

His lips had just moved against hers softly when a child’s voice suddenly broke through the air behind them. 

"Oh gross!"


	6. Chapter 6

The sound of the child's cry made Beth and Daryl tear away from each other at once and turn with open mouths to the front porch of the house. Standing at the top of the stairs stood a small child, dressed in dirty and torn jeans and a t-shirt that hung down to their knees. Their face was smudged with dirt and their hair was tangled in clumps around their ears. Daryl could not honestly tell if the child was a boy or a girl as it stood there and stared at the two of them with wide and openly disgusted green eyes. 

Daryl grabbed hold of the ropes and clambered out of the tire swing, not tearing his eyes away from the child who did not look away from them either. From the corner of his eye he saw that Beth had not moved a muscle. She had a white-knuckle grip on the ropes of the tire swing and her blue eyes were wide as she stared open mouthed at the child. The expression on her face was a strange mixture of disbelief, shock, and awe. 

Before any of the three of them could say anything else the front door of the house opened with the unmistakable creak of rusty hinges and a tall woman stepped out of it. She was just as dirty as the child, with rips in the knees of her jeans and a long curly red ponytail that looked almost as tangled up as the child's short hair. Her boots made the loud clomping sounds of sizes too large shoes as she crossed the small wooden porch to scoop the child up into her slim arms. 

"Roland!" she chided softly under her breath to the child who had begun to struggle futilely in her arms. "How many times do we have to tell you to _keep your voice down_?" her voice took on a frantic edge as she reached the end of her question. Looking up her eyes scanned the yard, Daryl assumed for walkers, because the moment that her eyes landed on him and Beth they went wide and her arms slackened their hold on the boy. 

"But mommy!" the boy, Roland, cried loudly as he struggled against her. "They were _kissing_." he said the last word in a whisper, as though it was a secret or a bad word that he was only supposed to use in the direst of situations. 

The mother looked down at her child, still open mouthed in shock before shaking her head and laughing slightly. Hearing a rustle of fabric behind him Daryl turned and saw Beth moving to climb off of the tire swing but it kept swaying in circles with her. Daryl leaned over to hold the swing steady as she scrambled out of it, seeming to be unable to tear her eyes away from the duo on the porch. 

Daryl stepped slightly in front of Beth as the four of them eyed each other wearily. Roland still struggled against his mother's hold as the adults all tried to decide if it was worth it to talk to one another or if that would be an unwise move. Daryl glanced at Beth from the corner of his eye. He was surprised that she had not immediately started peppering the woman with questions, this pair was the first people that they had seen alive since the prison. Other than the men who had taken their farm house from them and the van that they once spied the tail lights of, these were the only other survivors they knew about in the world. The shock of that seemed to be preventing any of them from talking. 

Beth had just opened her mouth to start what Daryl was sure was a long list of questions when the front door creaked open again and an elderly man stepped out slowly. As dirty as the others he walked slowly out of the house, the woman shifting Roland's weight onto one arm and silently turning to offer him a hand which he took with a look of gratitude. Beth and Daryl watched in silence as he slowly shuffled to the railing of the porch which he then leaned heavily against. In the back of his mind Daryl quietly wandered if the rotting railing was going to give out under his weight. 

The old man surveyed them calmly with surprisingly bright eyes. "You two look as though you've been on the road for quite some time." he remarked calmly, breaking the silence of the yard. Roland had stopped struggling against his mother the second the old man had stepped out and he stared at him now with a look of reverence as his mother gazed down with wary eyes at Beth and Daryl 

Daryl nodded assent slowly as Beth quietly spoke, having come out of her shocked trance. "We have." 

"Heading anywhere particular?" the old man asked curiously. 

"DC." Beth informed him as Daryl cautiously looked over his shoulder to scan the rest of the area. There was no one else in sight but he still felt a strange sense of nervousness. Yes, the three people on the steps were the most nonthreatening people he had ever met but he still felt uncomfortable telling them where they were headed. They did not know how many more of them were still in the house and honestly Daryl just found it hard to trust other people ever since they had found Woodbury and the insanity in human form that called himself the Governor. 

The old man let out a low whistle. "DC huh? That's quite a trek. You have family up there?" He seemed to just be genuinely curious and Beth seemed to be at ease so slowly Daryl felt his paranoia begin to lessen even if the questioning still made him slightly uneasy. 

Daryl shook his head. "Nah." he said with a shrug. "Just thought we'd tour the country." 

Beth looked at him with a raised eyebrow at his response but the old man did not seem to find it unusual. "Hell of a place to head to." he gestured towards the woman and child beside him. "We're from Richmond, it's about two hours out of DC." he shook his head sadly. "We barely made it out alive. Place is over run with chompers." 

"Chompers?" Beth asked in surprise. Daryl thought that had to be the strangest word for the walkers he had heard yet, biters sounded better than that. 

"Well what do you call them?" the woman asked as she shifted Roland higher up on her hip. 

"Walkers." Daryl said. 

"Everyone's got their own words for them but the point is that they are crawling all over every major city. They probably outnumber the living by now." the old man sighed sadly and shook his head. "Whatever your real reasons are for heading to the capital I sure hope they're good ones. Heading there will likely be a death sentence for you." 

"Well where are you headed?" Daryl snapped as he saw the crestfallen look on Beth's face. DC was the only plan they had right now and he wasn't going to let these people try to take it away from them. "Or do y'all just live here." he gestured around them at the falling down house. 

Again the old man did not react to his rudeness, he simply shook his head. "We're heading towards a town called Winston. We wandered aimlessly for a bit after we left Richmond but then we found these survivors that had heard of a safe place." 

"Where are these other survivors?" Daryl asked, his hand itching to go for his knife. He really wanted to find out how many more of them were in that building. Just how safe was it for them to be out here talking? 

The old man shook his head. "They went on ahead of us. We were just too slow for them. Or well, I was just too slow for them." 

The woman shook her head and reached for the old man's arm. "Don't be ridiculous, it wasn't just you. They were in a hurry is all." she said looking back at Beth and Daryl with a shrug, 

"Why?" Beth asked curiously as Daryl's muscles untensed a bit at that knowledge. Less people meant less danger. 

"They had a pregnant woman with them." the woman explained. "She was going to have the baby in a few weeks and they had heard that there was a doctor there." 

Daryl felt his heart leap and he saw Beth's eyes go wide with hope. "A doctor?" she asked quietly, her hand going unconsciously to her stomach. Daryl reached over and rested a hand on her shoulder causing her to look up at him with a small smile. Daryl's mind began to race, it all sounded far too good to be true. A place that not only had other survivors but a doctor? Surely it was all just a rumor or there had to be a catch. Nowhere was truly safe these days. 

"You're pregnant." the woman said softly as she stared down at them. Daryl glared up at her lightly as Beth bit her lip and nodded. 

"Not that far." she admitted with a shrug, looking over at Daryl with a small smile. "I'm only a few weeks." 

"Traveling is going to get pretty rough for you before too long dear." the old man said lightly as he reached up to scratch his chin. "Might be better for you all to just find a nice safe place to settle down at. Maybe at Winston." 

"What, you want us to go with you?" Daryl asked in disbelief. He was not the type of man that people who did not know him tended to like having around. 

The old man smiled at the blatant surprise in his voice. "Winston is still a few days away from here." he explained. "I'm not as agile as I was once and she's got to keep Roland in line, which is much harder than it sounds. Luke's got his hands more than full trying to protect all four of us at once." 

"Luke?" Daryl asked casting his eyes around for this last person but not finding any sign of him. 

The old man nodded and waved his hand carelessly. "He's from the survivors who told us about Winston. He offered to stay with us to help us get there. He's out hunting right now." he explained as he stared down at them. "Point is, we've still got a bit of a ways to go and our chances of arriving at Winston unharmed would go up quite a bit if we had some more help getting there." As if he could sense their hesitation he continued quickly. 

"You don't have to decide right away. Why don't you come in and stay here with us tonight? I would love to hear about how things are in other places." he kept his tone casual but Daryl could sense that he was truly desperate for them to help them get to their destination. 

Daryl looked over at Beth who stared back at him with hopeful eyes. He couldn't deny that the idea of hearing about how other places were holding up was enticing. Besides, sleeping somewhere that wasn't on the cold dirt was always an alluring factor. 

Sighing he shrugged at her and she beamed back at him. "We'd love to stay here tonight." she said happily turning back to face the people on the porch. 

The old man smiled at her "Wonderful. I'm Oliver." he introduced himself before holding a hand out to indicate the woman with the child standing beside him. "This is Sarah and Roland. My goddaughter and her son." 

Beth smiled at them and Daryl nodded as a way of greeting." I'm Daryl and this is Beth my." he found himself suddenly stumbling over the words in his mouth. How exactly was he supposed to describe what Beth was to him? She was the mother of his unborn child, yes, but somehow Daryl highly doubted that she would appreciate being introduced to someone that way. They had never felt the need to explain their relationship, there wasn't exactly a reason to ever try to define what was between them. They loved each other, what else did they need to know? He thought about using the word girlfriend but that seemed to fall hopelessly short of the way that they felt about each other. As the pause stretched on to the point of awkwardness Daryl ran a hand through his hair. "Beth." he finished lamely dropping his hand back to his side. 

Beth looked over at him and raised her eyebrows, a small smile forming on her mouth as the old man chuckled lightly. 

"Well Daryl and his Beth," Oliver said with a grin. "You two think about heading to Winston tonight. A safe place would be better than just wandering around aimlessly wouldn't it? Especially with that baby on the way." 

The door hinges groaned loudly in protest as Beth slowly eased open the front door. Soundlessly Daryl followed her out into the chilly night air. Stopping at the bottom of the worn wooden steps Beth sank down to sit on the last step, running her fingers over the warped and aged wood. 

She stretched her feet out before her, the grass felt cool and ticklish against her bare skin. Shivering, she pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her them for warmth. It was much colder than she had anticipated outside. Daryl wrapped his arm around her shoulders causing her to smile over at him. In the darkness they sat in silence for a few moments, both of them lost deep in their own thoughts. 

"They seem nice." Beth finally whispered, looking over at Daryl in the small amount of light the moon and stars provided them with. She could never get over how many stars the night sky now held. Even after spending sixteen years on a farm she had never seen as many stars as she had started to see after the turn. He nodded at her statement and she looked out into the dark yard again. "Do you think that Winston is a real place?" she asked quietly, trying to keep the absurd amount of hope she had for that out of her voice but failing miserably. 

She felt Daryl shrug and she looked over at him again. "Dunno." he said softly. "Seems almost too good." he admitted, to which Beth nodded. Earlier that night the burly middle-aged man, Luke, had told them all he had heard about Winston. As his group had traveled there, they had been told that the town was protected by two different fences that held armed guards to protect the townspeople from walkers, that there was a doctor, that children actually went to school and that people there did jobs every day. Minus the fact that the people in the town were living behind fences and carrying knives it was a normal town with a normal life, as though the walkers didn't even exist. 

Despite all of that, or perhaps even because of it, Beth could not shake the feeling that something was amiss. Perhaps it was because of what Woodbury had turned out to be or perhaps it was just the fact that it was so hard to trust anyone now. Even if Winston was as safe and great as Luke had made it sound, she could not help but think about how the prison had had three fences, and they had all still fallen. 

"What should we do?" Beth finally asked the question that both of them had been thinking of nonstop since Oliver had first told them of the possibility of a safe place. The idea of continuing on to DC now seemed absolutely ludicrous and silly, not to mention reckless. Whether they trusted the people in the house or not, whether they went with them to Winston or left alone that night the fact remained that Oliver was right. Cities were getting overrun. Beth and Daryl had seen this in even the small towns that they had passed through. Walkers were numerous and everywhere, it was going to be hard enough getting to DC and once they got there, then what? They still had to find somewhere safe where they could live and they still had to find someone to help deliver the baby, not to mention finding a safe place to raise it. 

That was what Beth's mind kept drifting to, the baby. She knew that whatever decision they made tonight would not just affect them but the life forming inside her as well. She wanted to make a good choice for the baby so that when she gave birth they would be as safe as they could possibility make it. 

"Why are we going to DC?" Daryl finally asked quietly causing Beth to look over at him. She opened her mouth to remind him about the spoon she had found in her bag and her need to not just wander around in circles but he continued talking, turning and catching her eyes with his. "We wanted a destination, right?" 

Beth nodded, that was basically the sole reason they were heading to DC. She had known when she suggested that it was an insane idea, the distance alone should have stopped them from even attempting to get there. But both of them had needed something to focus on, something to think about besides how crappy the world had turned out to be. DC was a goal that was attainable but not very easy to reach for but both of them had still grasped at it with white knuckles. 

"Well any destination is better than no destination at all." Daryl finally said with a shrug. Beth looked at his features in the pale light and clasped her hands together around her legs, biting down a smile as he repeated her own words back at her. However, she wasn't entirely sure if he meant what she thought he did so she asked him gently. 

"Does that mean we're going to Winston?" She bit her lip at the mixed emotions that idea gave her. She wanted so badly to be somewhere safe, somewhere they could simply focus on living and not just on surviving. Beth wanted to be able to sleep in the same place every night, to fall asleep with the knowledge that they would all be safe in the morning. She didn't want to have to keep looking over her shoulder or making sure she wasn't talking too loudly. She just wanted to be able to breath without wondering if that was going to be the last time she did so. 

Daryl sighed and rested his head on his hand, propping his elbow up on his knee. "You'll need a doctor." he explained quietly without looking at her. "I can't deliver a baby on my own Beth." he whispered the last part as though he was afraid she would be disappointed in him for admitting that fact aloud. She nudged him lightly before leaning back against his side, tucking her head into the crook of his neck and shoulder. Beth didn't want him to have to try to deliver the baby alone, she knew she didn't want just the two of them to try to bring the baby into the world. She couldn't think about giving birth, not just yet. Thinking about it filled her with such a fear it was as though she was trying to breath underwater. 

"We shouldn't just go because they might have a doctor." she whispered as she caught her breath, staring out into the darkness at the tire swing that was blowing in lazy circles due to the light breeze. "We should go because it's what we think will be best, for all of us." 

Daryl was quiet for a few minutes as he thought this over. Beth stayed where she was and listened to the quiet thump of his heartbeat, letting it lull her back into a calm state. 

"If it's as safe as they claim then it is the best thing for all of us." he finally admitted decisively. Beth pulled away to look at his face. He looked calm and content with this decision, if he was regretting his choice, she could see no hint of it in his face. Daryl met her eyes and reached over to brush a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "If it really is what they say." he paused and Beth could hear her own doubts in his voice as he shook his head. "Then it's the only place we should be trying to go." 

Beth smiled at him and leaned over to kiss him lightly. She felt so relieved to have come to this decision, a small part of her heart had unclenched against all of her worries about safety and making the right choice. If both her and Daryl agreed it was a safe thing to bet on then they would face the consequences of that bet together. "So, we're going to Winston then?" she double checked as she took his hand in hers. 

"Looks like it." Daryl said with a shrug as he intertwined his fingers through her own. 

Beth was quiet for a moment as she thought over the other worry that was plaguing her at the moment. "Are we going to go with them?" she finally asked him quietly. 

Daryl looked over at her as he contemplated this. "I don't know how we'd get there without them." he finally admitted with a shrug. "They haven't told us how to get there." he reminded her. 

"Probably so we wouldn't run off in the middle of the night and leave them to fend for themselves." Beth said with a smile. It was the same thing she and Daryl would have done if they had been in the other group's situation. 

Daryl nodded in reluctant agreement as they thought over the people inside the house and the predicament that they currently found themselves in. 

"Do you trust them?" Beth asked him lightly, even though she felt she already knew the answer. She didn't trust them yet, they seemed like nice enough people but the fact was that she didn't know them. She didn't know if they wouldn't push her or Daryl into a horde of walkers to save themselves or that they wouldn't trick them or simply steal their things the moment they were both asleep. 

"No." Daryl responded immediately with a shake of his head. "Do you?" he asked with a hint of disbelief in his voice. 

Beth shook her head sadly. "I want to." she admitted weakly. "They seem so nice and they did tell us about Winston but." she paused as she thought over how to put what she was thinking into words. "It's just been you and me for so long that it's hard to make room for anybody else." she admitted quietly as she picked at the frayed threads around the holes in her jeans. 

Beth wanted to trust the people in the house so badly it was almost ridiculous but she found herself incapable of doing so. If she was being honest with herself it wasn't just about trust, she didn't want to let someone else into her life or her heart if they were just going to hurt her when they left her, one way or the other. "We don't know them and they don't know us." she continued in the hopes of steering her thoughts away from the dark area they were heading towards. "They just need us for protection but what happens if our protection isn't enough? What happens then?" she asked softly, turning to catch Daryl's eyes with her own. She knew that she must have been staring at him with intensity but he met her gaze with the same level before he simply shook his head and gazed back out at the dark yard. He didn't have any more answers than she did right now. 

They sat in a still silence as they both contemplated their options. They could head on to DC and risk dying in one of the many hordes on the way or in the city, they could head somewhere else in the hopes that they end up somewhere safe. They could look for Winston on their own and leave the group in the house to fend for themselves or they could work with them to all get there together. None of their choices were easy, as choices so rarely were these days. 

"We don't trust them." Daryl finally said, breaking their silence. "But we need them." he looked over at her then and she squeezed his hand lightly. "And they need us." 

"So, we go with them to Winston?" Beth asked faintly as Daryl wrapped his arm around her again with a nod. 

"There better be a fucking doctor there." he whispered as she leaned back against him with a solemn nod. 

"And that my friend is why you should never drive a tractor drunk." Luke chuckled as he ended his own story and they continued on their slow pace down the highway. Daryl rolled his eyes at him; the man was full of ridiculous stories that he felt the need to share with everyone nonstop. He was almost never quiet which was grating on Daryl's nerves but he also never expected a response which was a good thing as Daryl rarely had anything to contribute to the conversation. At the beginning Luke had tried to get Daryl to trade him a story for a story but he realized fairly quickly that was a feat that was just not going to happen. 

For four days the group had been making their slow progress to their so-called promised land. The closer they got the more nervous Daryl felt. He wanted so badly for this to be a real place but he found he had no hope left for that. His whole life things had been promised to be safe, to be good, but they had never truly turned out that way. Daryl had learned over the course of his life that the better things were said to be the worse they actually were. 

He wanted for Winston to be real, more than he had ever wanted anything. He wanted it to be a place where Beth and him could raise their baby, where they could have a doctor deliver the baby. He kept having nightmares that he would have to pull the baby out of her in the middle of the woods, dirt mixing with the blood on her legs as walkers surrounded them, drawn in by her screams of pain. Daryl would wake up with his heart racing and his breath coming out in frightened pants and he would have to double check that Beth was still there sleeping safely in his arms before he could even breath freely again. 

As they spent more time with these new people Daryl began to hope that Winston was a real place for them as well. Despite his inability to shut up Luke was an alright guy. He had been a mechanic before the turn so at the very least Daryl and him had managed to have a few conversations about cars before that topic went stale. When Beth had tripped over a pothole in the road the day before Luke, who had been the closest to her at the time, had been the one to catch her arm and prevent her from falling over. 

Then there was Oliver, who had not been kidding about his slow pace. They made very little distance in quite a long time and the first day Daryl thought his mind would explode from the agonizingly slow pace that he set. But Daryl had to hand it to him, the old man refused to be helped or carried. He leaned heavily on his worn wooden cane but he took every step on his own. The old man was full of stories as well but unlike Luke he knew which ones to tell and when to tell them. 

The child, Roland, made Daryl nervous about what he and Beth should be expecting. The kid was a nonstop bundle of energy and almost everything that came out of his mouth was a question. He kept asking Beth how she had gotten a baby in her belly, he seemed to think that she had somehow accidentally swallowed one. His nonstop pestering that first day had led to his mother pulling him aside for a few minutes and when they came back, he had looked between Daryl and Beth with such a horrified look on his face that even Daryl had chuckled. 

Sarah and Beth had become fast friends. Whenever Daryl heard them speaking it was usually about childbirth or parenting tips. Although Beth hadn't mentioned it Daryl could tell that speaking to someone with firsthand experience on the birthing process had truly lessened her worries. 

While he still didn't trust these people just yet Daryl could now turn his back on them without expecting them to put a knife in it. He did not expect them to be leading them into a trap or to kill them in their sleep anymore. How much farther that trust went though he was still uncertain. Beth and him kept a close watch on them all for any sign that they were not what they seemed but so far, they truly seemed to be good people. Honestly, Daryl was pretty sure that Beth did trust them by now. She had always been more willing to believe in the good in people than anyone else Daryl had ever met. 

The longer they spent on the road and the more time they spent together the more he hoped that Winston was a real place, an actual safe space. He wanted these people to stop having to run and hide as much as he wanted him and Beth to have somewhere safe. This feeling worried him, he was not ready to care about anyone else just yet. He cared for Beth and for their unborn child but he was not ready to make room for anyone else. 

These past few days he found that his thoughts kept drifting to the people from the prison. This was a dangerous area that he was not yet willing to go to. In the days and weeks after they had left the prison, he had sealed all thoughts of them off. He had devoted his time to locking the memories of them away before the pain of not knowing what happened to them killed him. He had almost closed himself off entirely, he would have, had Beth not dragged him out of that darkness. 

While he could now draw up small memories of the prison and its people, he could not stand to think on them for too long. Every time Luke started to tell a story though, Daryl's thoughts began to drift into wondering who had survived and where they were now. The pain of these thoughts had not numbed at all so he would try to back away from them the moment they started. 

"So, you and Beth huh?" Luke asked quietly, dragging Daryl from his thoughts as he tapped his fingers against his thigh tunelessly. 

Daryl looked over at him with a blank face. The pair was walking at the back of the group, keeping watch of their rear as Beth walked in the front of the group with Sarah. Roland was walking next to Oliver's slowly moving feet clearly in the middle of describing something very important to him, judging by his frantically waving arms. 

Daryl eyed Beth where she walked with Sarah, evidently in the middle of a deep conversation. Her face was earnest with interest as the sun shone down on it, although her hand did still rest at the ready on her knife hilt. 

"What about us?" Daryl asked protectively. He had been keeping a closer eye on Luke than he had been with the others. Luke was the only one that Daryl would have trouble overpowering and that fact made him dangerous. Daryl also he knew how men could think at times and he had wanted to make certain that Beth was safe from all types of dangers. Luke had turned out to be an alright guy, despite his need to talk. And luckily, Luke had taken zero interest in Beth. A fact that Daryl was fairly certain was due to the fact that Sarah and him seemed to have a bit of an interest in each other, at least judging from the looks they gave each other that Beth had pointed out to him the night before last. 

"You two been together long?" Luke asked curiously, looking over at him. Daryl wondered if the man had finally run out of stories to regale him with. If that was the case, Daryl was almost remorse if it meant Luke was going to expect him to fill the silence now. 

"Two and a half years." Daryl said with a shrug, he figured that number would be right give or take a few months. He couldn't honestly remember how long just the two of them had been on the road or how much time they had spent in the prison. Time had become such a strange concept since the turn. When one could die at any second it no longer made sense to keep track of how much time had passed. It only made it seem worse that that time could quickly be run out. 

Luke let out a low whistle. "And you only just got her pregnant?" he asked with a slight chuckle. "Good job man." 

Daryl's brow furrowed. "What?" he asked in confusion. He did not understand how getting Beth pregnant was a good thing. No matter what happiness the idea of having a child together brought to the two of them it was still a dangerous and risky thing to do. Besides, even if it was a safe thing to do Daryl highly doubted people would congratulate him for getting sweet Beth knocked up. He could only imagine how much worse it would have been for the two of them if the turn had never happened and he had still somehow met her and got her pregnant. 

Luke looked over at him with a raised brow. "Well if you've been with her for that long I'm just surprised that she's only just now getting pregnant." he explained. "Didn't mean nothing by it." he said with an apologetic shrug. 

Daryl realized then that Luke had assumed he and Beth had been together as a couple for that whole time. For some reason the idea of that amused Daryl a little. When he had first met Beth, he had not thought of her in that way, in fact he rarely thought of her at all. Even after they had been traveling in the same group for months, he had never thought that he would feel the way he did for her now. Shaking his head Daryl checked to make sure the road behind them was still clear. "We've been traveling together for two and a half years." he informed Luke. "We've only been together for ‘bout seven months." 

Luke made a small noise of understanding. "Ah, so is she your girlfriend then?" he asked curiously. 

Daryl stared at him as he wondered if Beth and him had been reading everything all wrong and he really was going to make a move on her. Luke was not looking over at her though, he was simply looking over at Daryl with a genuine look of curiosity on his face. 

Daryl shrugged. "Guess so." he licked his lips as he thought how best to explain their relationship. He still hated the idea of calling Beth his girlfriend. That word did not accurately represent what she truly meant to him but he did not know what else he was supposed to call her. "We've never talked about it." he admitted with a shrug. He supposed that they might want to do that before they got to Winston if it meant saving himself from the type of awkward conversation he was having right now. In a way he hated that they would even have to define what they were. He loved her and she loved him, why couldn't that be enough for everyone else? 

Luke shook his head as he stretched his arms above his head. "Well I guess that's one good thing about the end of the world man." he said with a grin. 

"What?" Daryl asked in confusion. Did Luke mean that he and Beth got together? In truth Daryl thought that was the only good thing he had left in the world now that everyone from the prison was gone. 

Luke clapped him lightly on the shoulder. "No more shotgun weddings. That would have been your life man." he laughed and clapped Daryl’s shoulder again before trotting to the front of the group where Sarah turned to him with a smile. 

Beth looked over her shoulder at Daryl with a knowing grin at the other couple's antics. Daryl managed to give her a small smile in return as he drummed his fingers against his crossbow. 

If the turn had never happened and they had still somehow found themselves in this position, is that what would have happened? Was he supposed to marry her now? Daryl was surprised by the feelings that thought stirred in him. 

The night air was alive with noise around them as crickets performed in harmony with the hooting of a night owl and the wind rustled the branches of the trees above them. The metal cans that they had strung up around the clearing where they now slept swung lightly in the breeze, hitting against each other with a small metallic clank every few minutes. Luke's soft snores filled the air, covering the small sounds that Roland made as he tossed restlessly in his sleep against his mother's side. Oliver lay close by them breathing steadily, his frail form stretched out on the hard-packed earth. 

Beth sat in silence as she leaned her back against the thick trunk of a tree as she took her turn to keep watch over the slumbering group. Daryl lay stretched out beside her, his head resting in her lap. Absentmindedly she ran her fingers through his overgrown hair as she surveyed the unmoving woods around them. 

"Beth?" Daryl's voice was a small whisper that she barely heard over the breeze. Surprised, she looked down to see his eyes bright and intense on her. She had thought that he had fallen asleep ages ago when he had woken her to switch guards. 

"What?" she whispered back, carefully checking that the sound of their voices had not woken up the others or caught the attention of any nearby walkers. Satisfied that they were alone she looked back down at Daryl; his face lit strangely by the small amount of moonlight that streamed down through the trees. 

"What are we?" he asked, a pained and uncomfortable expression on his face at the question. 

Beth looked down at Daryl in confusion, unsure of what he had meant by that broad inquiry. What were they to what? 

"I don't understand." she confessed as Daryl slowly pushed himself up off the dirt and leaned against the tree next to her. He sighed as he leaned his head back against the rough bark. Beth watched him from the corner of her eye as she kept watch on the camp. 

"I was talking to Luke earlier." he explained in a whisper. "He asked me if you were my girlfriend." he confessed shaking his head at this admission. He seemed uncomfortable simply saying the words aloud, Beth wondered how awkward he had been when Luke had tried to talk to him about this. 

Beth bit her lip at the question. She supposed that was a valid enough question to ask about them, although honestly, she did not like the sound of that word, girlfriend. It made her think of high school and dates to school dances. It drew up images of holding hands and going on dates. That word just seemed so juvenile when used to describe her and Daryl. However, if she had to describe what Daryl was to her, she supposed that boyfriend would be the word that she would use. The word tasted sour in her mouth but she still did not truly understand where Daryl was going with this. "So?" 

"I was just wondering if you are." Daryl admitted with a slight shrug as he drummed his fingers on his knees, his voice unreadable. 

Beth finally tore her eyes away from the camp and looked down at him in surprise. "Well I would assume that I am." she confessed looking at him as closely as she could in the moonlight. "Do you want me to be?" she asked jokingly. 

"No." Daryl admitted with a slight shake of his head. Beth sucked in her breath. It felt as though he had just punched her in the stomach and she felt her heart begin to thump against the inside of her chest. She was not sure what he meant by that, was he going to call off whatever they had between them? Her mind began to run wild with what that one word meant. 

"What?" she choked out; her voice tight. 

The sound of her question caused Daryl to look over at her then and he must have read her thoughts in her face because he quickly grabbed her hand from where it rested in her lap. "That's not what I meant." he explained quickly as he intertwined his fingers with hers and Beth let out her breath in a relaxed sigh. Her heart slowly began to return to its normal tempo but she could still taste the aftertaste of fear in her mouth. "I want to be with you Beth." Daryl insisted, his voice earnest and his eyes steady and intense on hers. "It's just that the word girlfriend doesn't seem to fit right." he explained further with a slight shake of his head. 

Beth leaned her head back against the rough bark of the tree and shut her eyes in relief. She had been so frightened that Daryl was about to end what they had between them. The thought of him abandoning her and their child like that left her speechless and senseless. She knew she was being silly though; Daryl would not leave them. Even if he stopped loving her, he would not abandon them. He was not that type of man. 

"I don't the idea of calling you my boyfriend either." she admitted as she finally gained control over herself and her thoughts. It was true, just saying it aloud felt strange. It was akin to calling the walkers a nuisance. 

Daryl was quiet for a moment as he wrestled with his thoughts. "What do you think your dad would say?" he finally asked her under his breath. Beth looked over at him quickly in surprise. It was always rare for Daryl to mention any of the people from their past but even more so for him to mention her family unless she had brought them up first. In fact, it was strange for Daryl and her to be having this conversation at all. What did it matter what they called themselves as long as they were together? 

"About what?" Beth asked him gently when he did not continue. 

"Us." Daryl shrugged as he turned his head to look into her eyes. "What would your father say about us?" he repeated in a whisper. 

Beth bit her lip as she considered this. She had often thought about this late at night the few times when she could bear to think about her family. She would imagine what it would have been like if the turn never happened and her family was all still alive. She would come up with crazy scenarios of how her and Daryl had met and then dream up introducing him to her family. Other times she would imagine running into Maggie again and telling her about her and Daryl's new found romance and their child. She imagined the hug Maggie would wrap her in so often that at times she could almost feel the phantom touch of her sister's arms around her. No matter what she imagined one thing was always the same. "I think he'd be happy for us. I think all of my family would be happy for us." she finally admitted out loud. It was true, she truly believed that they all would have been. Her father and Maggie had liked Daryl, eventually. And all her parents had ever wanted was for their children to be happy. Shawn might have taken more swaying than the others but that was only because he was supremely protective of Beth. But Daryl made her happy and he kept her safe, her family would have been happy for them on those facts alone. 

"Even about the baby?" Daryl asked in disbelief as he looked over at her with a furrowed brow. He did not seem to agree on the idea that her family would have been very pleased with the two of them being together but Beth knew they would have been, eventually. 

"Yes. I think that they would have been plenty mad at first." she admitted with a slight grin at the thought of how her family would have reacted to her being pregnant at such a young age. She had always been the good child, never in any trouble. This would have shocked all of them speechless. "But they would have gotten over it and been happy for us. For all three of us." she said softly as she ran her hand lightly over her stomach. It still felt flat to the touch but she liked to imagine that the baby, even though she knew it was still only developing cells at the moment, would be able to feel it and take some comfort from her touch. 

Daryl took a deep breath as though he needed to steady himself before asking his next question. "Do you think your father would have made us get married?" he asked, his voice very carefully toneless. "You know, have a shotgun wedding?" 

Beth blinked in surprise and turned to stare out into the dark woods. That was never something that she had thought of, even in her daydreams. To be honest, she wasn't sure what her father would have said, at least not now anyway. If this had been before the turn or if the turn had never happened like she preferred to daydream of, that is exactly what her family would have expected to happen. The world was a lot different now though, and her family was a hell of a lot smaller. Although it was growing. 

Running her fingers lightly over her stomach she shrugged. "I don't know." Beth admitted, turning to look over at Daryl's slightly illuminated face again. 

Daryl nodded slowly and he seemed to tighten all of his muscles, as though he was expecting an attack. "Would you have wanted a wedding?" he asked, his voice causal. 

Beth licked her lips as she thought this over. "I used to." she admitted with a small smile and a shake of her head. "I used to dream of the big church wedding with the white poufy dress and all these bright flowers." she let out a slight laugh at the simple daydreams that she used to have. "It all seems so stupid now." she whispered as she looked off into the dark again, her eyes searching the blackness for any hidden dangers. She found it so silly, the things she used to waste her time with thinking about. 

She felt Daryl look over at her in confusion. "So, you don't ever want to be married?" he seemed to be struggling to keep his voice even and Beth looked over at him in genuine astonishment. She had never thought that Daryl would be one to want to talk about weddings and marriages. He always seemed so tough and she always thought that all men found weddings to be silly and frivolous affairs. 

"Well a wedding seems so useless now." she explained as she thought over how best to describe her feelings. Weddings were for families and friends to see and share in the love of a couple and all of her family and friends were dead or gone except for Daryl. Beth was a little bit breathless as she tried to put her thoughts into words, where was he going with all of this? "A marriage is still something that is worthwhile these days." she finally settled on saying. She meant it too, a marriage showed how much people loved each other, that they were committed. Strangely enough when Beth had imagined weddings as a child, she had never bothered to imagine a groom or think about the true reason for a wedding. She had only ever wanted to plan out the ceremony and the party. 

"Would you want to get married?" Daryl asked looking away from her as he picked absentmindedly at the grass. Beth felt her heart begin to speed up again as she began to realize what he was truly trying to ask her. "You know, to me?" he stared down at the grass and refused to look at her which she was grateful for as her lungs seemed to be unable to hold any oxygen and she must have looked like a gaping fish at the moment. He would have drawn back his proposal at the sight of her. "Not now obviously." Daryl continued, clearly trying to fill her silence. "But I dunno one day?" finally he looked up at her and Beth managed to catch her breath and her senses enough to smile at him. 

Still speechless she managed a small nod. "One day." Beth found her voice enough to whisper squeezing his hand gently. 

"One day." Daryl repeated back like a promise as she grabbed his face and pulled him down to kiss her. 

"Do you think they'll have toy cars? I hope they have toy cars." Roland said, breathless with excitement as he tugged on Sarah and Beth's hands in an attempt to get them to walk faster. 

"They might. We'll just have to wait and find out love." Sarah said lightly. Catching sight of her son's frown she tugged on his hand. "Do you want to fly?" she asked excitedly. Roland nodded enthusiastically, his frown immediately turning into a smile as he jumped off the ground and Beth and Sarah pulled him into the air. As his feet dangled in the open space he began to giggle loudly and the adults all quickly scanned the road around them to make sure they were still alone. 

All of them were on a bit of an edge. Earlier that morning they had run into a small pack of walkers. They had been passing through a small town and five walkers had stumbled out from behind a building and into their path. Thankfully they had been able to put them all down quickly without any problems but they had all been uneasy ever since. 

The past few days they had been coming across more and more walkers. Daryl wasn't sure if it was because they were passing through more cities or if it was due to the fact that so many people had died since the turn. If it had been up to him, they would have traveled off of the roads entirely but unfortunately that was the only way they knew how to get to Winston and Oliver would not have been able to handle off roading. 

If the directions that Luke and his previous group had been told were accurate than they were closing in on Winston and, given their current pace, would be there by nightfall of the next day. All of them were bundles of nerves and excitement as they grew ever closer. 

As they drew nearer to where Winston was supposed to be Daryl found himself looking over his shoulder every few minutes. He wasn't entirely sure what he was looking for but it wasn't only walkers. He couldn't seem to shake the feeling that they were walking into a trap, but he seemed to be the only one in the group with that sense of deep unease. He chalked it up to his natural distrust of people mixed in with the all too real memories of Woodbury and the madhouse that turned out to be. Beth and the others did not seem to share his unsettled feelings although he knew that Beth was not one hundred percent sure that they would find sanctuary at the end of this road. She just had more faith than he did that not everyone was a terrible person these days. 

He had to admit her trust in others had not let them down yet. In the week that they had been traveling with this small group both of their lives had been saved by its members. That morning Daryl had been reloading his crossbow when a walker managed to catch a hold of his backpack, pulling him towards its gaping mouth. While he believed he could have gotten out of the hold unharmed he hadn't even have to try as Sarah had shoved Roland into Oliver's arms and slammed her knife into the back of the walker's skull before Daryl had even begun to struggle. 

Two days past Beth had been surprised by three walkers at once as she gathered water down in a stream. She had got one down and was wrestling with the other two when Oliver, who had been nearby, beat one's head in with his cane as Daryl shot down the other one, alerted by the noise. 

It was undeniable that the group had needed Daryl and Beth's help, he highly doubted that they would have made it even this far without their assistance. But they had not left either of them to fall either and Daryl knew Beth was sold on them now. She would trust them now until they gave her a reason not to and Daryl was slowly beginning to feel the same way. The closer they got to Winston the more worried he was that they were going to walk into a trap. Because if it came down to it, no matter how much he liked or was beginning to trust these people, he would only worry about trying to save Beth. He would help the others if he could, but not if it put Beth or him in danger. A small part of him hated himself for that, he didn't want to ever leave anyone behind again. But the larger part of him knew that was what would have to be done. He had to protect her and the baby. 

"What's wrong?" Beth's voice was soft next to him and he looked over at her with a jolt. He had been so deep in his worries that he had not noticed her and Luke switching places by Roland or her falling back to walk by his side. He tried to push his worries to the back of his mind as he shrugged at her. Daryl did not like sharing his fears about the town with her because he saw how much she hoped that it was real and good. He knew that if he told her his fears, she would begin to doubt its safety as well, she might even suggest that they not continue heading there, which no matter how much he worried, he was unwilling to do. They had to check out the town if only for the rumor that there was a doctor there. 

Beth frowned at him but thankfully she did not press him for anything else. He knew she still had some doubts, as they all did, but he was grateful that she did not insist on hashing them out with each other. That would only make their trip seem even more foolhardy than it did already. 

"So, what do you hope Winston has?" Beth asked lightly, continuing on a conversation that Roland had started the past day. He made everyone tell him what they most wanted Winston to have before telling them all that he hoped there was an ice cream store and a bounce house. Daryl felt that the kid had his hopes way to high but thankfully his mother managed to talk his hopes down to a chocolate bar and a swing set. She told Daryl later, after spying his inquisitive look, that it was much easier to let his hopes down easy before they were later crushed, especially when she knew what he hoped for was impossible. 

"Oh, and you can't say a doctor!" Beth exclaimed poking him lightly in the shoulder with a grin. "That would be cheating." 

Daryl sighed at this and raked his brain. Besides a doctor and no one trying to kill them he really had no hopes for this supposed safe town. He knew the others did, whether it was small things that they hoped the town had there or simply getting to sleep in a bed. But Daryl didn't really mind sleeping on the ground if it meant he wasn't walking into a death trap, all he really wanted was for Winston to be as safe as was being promised. 

He made a noncommittal noise in response which caused Beth to frown at him. 

"No don't!" she repeated his mumbling noise back at him which caused him to smile slightly. "What do you want them to have there?" 

"What do you want there?" he asked instead of answering, hoping to distract her from his lack of response. She pouted slightly at him to show that his plan had failed but after a quick look behind them to make sure they were still alone she responded. 

"I want there to be a piano." she admitted sheepishly. Seeing his confused look, she blushed. "I really miss playing. It's stupid and selfish but." she shrugged. "That's kind of the point of the game isn't it?" 

Beth turned to look at him with wide blue eyes and Daryl found himself nodding in agreement. He would like to hear her play the piano but he doubted she would let him get away with using that as an answer so he tried to come up with something that he really wanted to be there. 

Truly he already knew what he wanted, besides the safety and a doctor. He wanted Rick to be there. Or Glenn, or Michonne or really anyone from the prison. He wanted there to be someone there who knew what had happened to the others, who could set his and Beth's minds at ease. 

Daryl knew that was not going to happen however so he did not even entertain the thought for that long. If they were going to find other survivors from the prison, they would have found them by now. They would have found them when they had scoured the woods surrounding the prison for weeks. They would not find them in a town in North Carolina, they were a long way from Georgia and the prison after all. He did not mention these thoughts to Beth because he did not want for her to get her hopes up that there would somehow be prison survivors there. As Sarah had told him earlier, it was better to just stop impossible hopes and dreams before they really got started. 

Trying to think of things that might actually be at Winston that he might want Daryl found himself only thinking of things such as safety, or a roof, or a change of clean clothes. But these things had all been said yesterday and were unanimous with everyone. He could say a hot shower but he wasn't going to let his own hopes get up that high, besides he'd settle for a cold shower these days. 

Sighing he tapped his fingers on his belt and cast a furtive look behind them, Beth walking patiently at his side. "I don't know." he admitted with a shrug. She opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off. "I've never been good at this type of thing." 

Beth's protest died on her lips as she looked at him in confusion. "Wait, was that for points?" she asked, her brow furrowed. 

Daryl shook his head no and she sighed. 

"Aren't you excited at all to get there?" she asked quietly kicking lightly at the road with her scuffed boots. 

Daryl grunted noncommittally. He had no idea how to accurately describe how he felt about getting to Winston because he had no idea what to expect there. He would worry about what they had to offer them after he knew they weren't going to try to kill them first. After he knew that they weren't just chasing down a rumor. 

They walked on in silence for a few minutes before Beth spoke. "I was thinking." Beth paused as Daryl looked over at her. She bit her lip lightly before she continued in a rush. "If it really is safe, we could get married there." 

She kept staring ahead and did not look at Daryl even when he continued to stare at her. That was the first time either of them had mentioned his marriage proposal from a few nights ago. He had begun to think that she did not want to marry him after all or that they were just not going to talk about it again. But if Winston was safe then she was willing to marry him, maybe as early as tomorrow. Daryl was surprised by how pleased this actually made him; he had never once thought that he would have children let alone be married. Those types of thoughts had never entered his mind before the turn and they were certainly never there after it. Sometimes it still amazed him how much being with Beth had changed him. 

Daryl cleared his throat before responding. "I found what I'm hoping for then." 

Beth turned to look at him with a smile that he returned easily. 

"I've never thought about marriage before you." Daryl confessed to her causing her to blush as she grinned down at her shoes. 

"Point, but it was mostly just about the wedding." Beth tapped her finger on her lips before she turned to face him. "I've never wanted anything as much as I want Winston to be safe." she whispered; her voice suddenly serious. 

Daryl squeezed her hand lightly as he confessed, "Me neither."


	7. Chapter 7

"There it is! There it is!" Roland cried enthusiastically as he struggled to break free of Sarah's hold on his hand. They had just crested over the top of a small hill and perhaps half a mile away a small town lay stretched out before them. From the corner of her eye Beth saw Daryl's grip tighten on his crossbow and she reached over to squeeze his elbow encouragingly with a small smile that he did not return. His face was closed off with worry, an emotion she could understand because she was not without her own fears at the moment. 

Slowly the group headed down the hill on the worn road, the town of Winston laying clustered at their feet. Beth could count roughly twenty buildings and houses sectioned in a small square formation. The tall spire of a church rose up from the middle of the town like a beacon guiding travelers to it. The town was fenced in by a wooden beam wall with a chain link fence in front of it. The group walked on in silence, none of them daring to take their eyes away from the sanctuary they all hoped they were heading for. 

"This road is used a lot." Luke remarked quietly, tapping his boot on a broken slab of asphalt. "Big trucks too I'd guess." 

Daryl made a small noise of agreement and Beth glanced over at him in worry. He looked ready to go on a firing rampage at the slightest provocation. As they continued on in a slow silence Beth shoved her hands deep in her pockets where she crossed her fingers that whatever they were about to walk into was a good place. 

That last half of a mile to the fence had to be the longest walk Beth had ever taken. The sun was beginning to set behind them and the group approached Winston in the steadily approaching darkness. 

Finally, after what felt like hours but had only been minutes, they reached the fences. There were no walkers hovering near it like the swarms that had attached themselves to the prison but Beth did not see any signs of people beyond the fences either. She twined her fingers through the fence links and peered through the chains to the wall behind it. 

"Do you see anyone?" she whispered to the group pressing close around her. Daryl shook his head slowly, his fingers white from his grip on his bow. 

"There!" Sarah whispered as she pointed to a few places down on the wall where a figure clad in ill-fitting camos was clambering up. They were clearly standing on something behind the wall as the wall itself looked far too flimsy to hold up anyone's weight. A small part of Beth's mind began to wonder how good these fences actually were at protecting the town from walkers. Seeing as Winston was on the outskirts of two metropolitan areas, she didn't understand why they wouldn't have better structured security on the outside. 

The person finally managed to crawl up onto their post where they stood and stretched their arms over their heads. They ruffled their hair before turning to scan the area around them. As they turned and faced the group Beth saw that it was a young boy, perhaps only a few years younger than her. The moment his eyes fell upon them his mouth dropped open and his hands dropped to his sides where a gun was resting at his hip. Beth saw Daryl raise his bow and place his finger on the trigger but she held up a hand to stop him as the boy suddenly let out a straggled yell. 

"Luke!" his voice was the cracked cry of a boy just entering puberty but the joy in it was still unmistakable. 

Beth watched with her heart in her throat as Daryl slowly removed his finger from the trigger as Luke let out a laugh of joy from behind them. 

"Evan!" he cried in happiness. "You gonna let us in our keep us out here as walker bait?!" Beth smiled slightly to herself at how easy the group had picked up on the word walker. 

"The gate's this way!" The boy, Evan, called pointing to their left as he began to climb back down whatever he was standing on. 

The group quickly made their way around the chain link fence until they came upon a sliding gate which was closed shut with a thick chain and a padlock. They stood and waited in an anticipated silence, Sarah bouncing on her toes as she tried to hold a struggling Roland close to her. 

"He was with your group?" Beth asked Luke quietly as they waited impatiently. She supposed them knowing each other had to be a good sign. If Luke's old group was here unharmed then perhaps Winston really was the safety that it promised to be. 

Luke nodded with a laugh. "Yeah, crazy little shit. I can't believe they made it." he shook his head. "But we did too so I guess it can't be that hard of a journey huh?" he chuckled to himself as he clutched onto the fence with one hand. 

Oliver snorted as he leaned his weight heavily onto his cane. "Speak for yourself. I have blisters on my hand from this damn cane." despite his words a small smile was beginning to form on his face. The sight of a familiar face had made everyone begin to feel a little bit more at ease although Beth did notice that Daryl still had not lowered his cross bow. 

Beth placed a hand lightly on his shoulder, turning her back on the others to face him. "It's going to be okay." she whispered to him trying to get him to look at her. For a moment he kept staring straight ahead at the fence but slowly he turned his head and met her eyes. She was surprised by how much emotion she saw there before he managed to close himself off again. He looked so frightened. Beth knew that he was afraid that this would be like Woodbury but she had not realized how deep that fear went. The fear in his eyes haunted Beth for a moment until a noise from behind her tore her gaze away. 

There was a rattling from the other side of the fences and the wooden gate opened up, three figures spilling forth. Evan had been joined by a middle-aged woman and a man who looked to be close to Daryl's age. 

"Luke!" The woman cried in joy as she ran forward to the chain link fence and began to unlock the padlock, "It really is you." it sounded as though there were tears in her eyes as she began to unwind the chain with trembling fingers. 

"Hey there Mindy." Luke said, the grin on his face stretched wide. "Did everyone make it?" he asked breathlessly as she finished unwinding the last few coils. 

Mindy shook her head sadly, her fingers stilling on the metal for a moment as she paused. "We lost Jon and Katy." she whispered, her voice tight. Luke swore as she pulled the fence open with a rattle and he ducked inside of it quickly to pull her into a hug Evan joining them immediately. As the rest of the group wandered inside the other man shut and locked the fence behind them and Beth saw Daryl's jaw clench. 

"We're so glad you all made it here." The man said calmly as he turned around to face them. "My name is George and I am one of the people in charge here at Winston." he informed them. He eyed Daryl's grip on his bow and shook his head slowly. "You don't need to be afraid. We won't hurt any of you." 

Daryl did not look very inclined to believe him but Evan gripped Luke's arm tightly. "It's true. Things are great here. They taught me how to fire a gun and their teaching Jill to read." 

"That's great kid." Luke said ruffling the boy's hair affectionately. 

"We mean none of you any harm." George repeated looking at each of them in turn but Beth had a feeling he was mostly speaking to her and Daryl. Luke was clearly at ease with his friends and Sarah, Roland and Oliver all simply looked happy to be behind one of the fences. Daryl however still looked ready to run, or at the very least fire a bolt into someone. Beth herself felt uneasy, not because of the town, but because she was unsure of what Daryl's intentions were. He continued to stare George down with his bow still held at the ready. 

Beth turned her back on George and the others and leaned close to Daryl's ear. "We should give them a chance. Everything looks okay right now." Daryl did not look at her or move to lower his bow. "Please Daryl." she whispered reaching over to rest a hand on his arm. "Please." she pleaded trying to catch his eyes. 

She felt his muscles tense under his touch and after a brief pause, he slowly dropped the bow to rest by his side. George nodded at her gratefully as Beth squeezed Daryl's arm in appreciation. 

"Well, let's get all of you a tour! I assume you'll all be staying?" he asked as he turned away from them to slide open the wooden gate. 

The group walked through in silence and appraised the area around them. As Beth had counted earlier there were twenty or so buildings in the enclosed area but up close she could see that many of them were several stories tall, some had old signs in front of them boasting that they were restaurants or shops, there were a few apartment buildings that she could see on this block alone. 

George walked them through a couple of streets before he slowed down at a small circle of green grass where several picnic tables rested. There was a small set of playground equipment at the end of it and Beth saw Roland begin to beg his mom to let him go and play. 

George clapped his hands and turned to face them, appraising each of them in turn. 

"Everyone who lives in Winston pulls their own weight." he informed them solemnly. "That will be expected of all of you as well. We all know how tough it is out there and what it can do to people. We will not tolerate that type of behavior in here." His eyes lingered on Daryl as he spoke and Beth felt a shimmer of rage overcome her although Daryl did not so much as blink at the man. "If you do something that the town finds unbecoming or if you hurt someone, put someone in danger, you will be cast out of Winston." George shook his head sadly as he looked at them. "This world is hard but that doesn't mean you have to get hard with it." 

Beth silently disagreed, if she had not hardened up, she never would have survived in this world. It had taken her dragging a shard of broken mirror across her wrist before she realized that she had to get tough or die. And she really did not want to die, not yet. It would happen, one day, but she was determined now to go down fighting. George was right on one thing though; this new world was hard. But if one expected to live in it, to survive, they needed to be hard too. 

She did not say anything as George went on to inform of the various structures that Winston had, their school, their hunters, their planters. Beth simply stood and listened, watching from the corner of her eye as Daryl's muscles slowly began to untense. 

When George finally reached the end of his spiel, he pointed to the apartment building behind them. "That one still has several empty spaces. You're welcome to any apartment you find. Simply write your names on the outside of the door and its yours. Any questions?" 

Beth blinked at him in astonishment, she had not been excepting for her and Daryl to get an apartment or any type of home. She had been hoping for a roof and a dry patch of floor, maybe a mattress if possible. Daryl and her exchanged a surprised look before she smiled in happiness and turned to ask the two most important questions she could think of at the moment. 

"Is there a doctor here?" she asked holding her breath in anticipation. As George nodded, she felt almost breathless with relief, and she clutched Daryl's hand in a grip he returned with equal fervor. 

"Yes, Penny was actually a pediatrician but she is adapting quite well to the wounds and troubles she has had to deal with. She actually delivered a baby a few weeks ago, her first one ever." 

Beth let out a little laugh and she was happy to see that Daryl's face was beginning to stop look so stoic as Sarah squeezed Beth's arm in happiness. 

"Any other questions?" George asked shoving his thumbs though his belt loops. 

Beth looked at Daryl and rose an eyebrow in question. He seemed to understand what she was asking without her having to ask which made her heart stutter with joy. Sure, that she was making the right decision she turned back to George and asked him breathlessly. "Is there any type of pastor or preacher here?" 

George looked a bit confused by her question before he nodded. "Yes, Pastor Clyde is here. He was one of the founding members of Winston. Why?" he asked curiously, baffled by her question as was the rest of the group who was looking at them with raised brows. 

Beth squeezed Daryl's hand again, he returned the pressure as the emotionless look slowly began to leave his face as she turned back to George. "Because we want him to marry us." 

Three days had passed since they had arrived in Winston. They had spent the majority of them trying to assess whether or not the town really was all it was hyped up to be. So far, no matter how hard Daryl looked, everything actually seemed to be genuine. The people there really were normal and just trying to find a way to live. 

The town housed roughly forty people of various ages and from multiple locations. The word of Winston only ever got round by word of mouth or by people stumbling upon the town. Since the only ways one could get into Winston were by one of two roads (one of which cut through the state capitol Raleigh and was deemed impassable by others or the one that their group had traveled up on) or through the woods on either other side of the town. Because of this almost no one ever came to Winston by accident. 

The town had been sectioned off by the fences when Raleigh had been cordoned off by the military to be a safe zone. Pastor Clyde had decided that grouping that many scared people in one place was nothing but a bad idea so he and four other people had stayed in Winston, cordoned off the most valuable section, and waited. 

In the beginning people found them as they fled Raleigh after it was overrun. Some people stayed in Winston, others left to go and try to find their family or friends, back when people still had the hope of doing so. They spread the word of Winston and slowly others found their way there. Some people stayed, others came and went. As time passed, more and more of those who managed to make it inside the gates stayed inside. The world outside the fences was far too dangerous to want to live in. 

Winston managed to survive not only because of its citizen's need for a safe place but because the people in charge made sure everyone felt like a valuable part of the community. Their small group had all been given job duties for the duration of their stay, however long they decided that would be. Oliver was to help out with the meal preparation, he would be able to sit and help cook and clean food. Despite the slowness of his walk his hands still worked fine and he seemed to be happy to be considered useful. Sarah, who had been an engineer before the turn, was set to work helping George and a few of the other townspeople come up with ways to reinforce the fences and other town structures. Luke had joined some of his old group on the supply run team. Beth was to work at the school where Roland would join the other children and Daryl was to work guard duty on the fence and join the hunting team as his crossbow was far quieter than a gun. 

As the days past and no one pulled a gun on them or tried to feed them to walkers Daryl slowly allowed himself to trust the town, a large part of that trust formed due to Beth's insistence that there were still good people left in the world. Without even needing to discuss it they decided to stay on in Winston and spoke to the Pastor to marry them in the old church that sat in the center of Winston's fenced in area. 

That morning Daryl had woken up with Beth in his arms on their very own bed with the knowledge that by the end of the night they would be husband and wife. As they dressed for work, he kept casting her weary looks, sure that at any moment she was going to announce that she had changed her mind, that she didn't want to marry him after all. 

After a quick kiss they had parted ways to their separate jobs where Daryl had spent his hours on guard duty standing on the top of an RV at the fence line, shooting down the walkers that stumbled out of the city towards them. A job that usually seemed to pass by quickly seemed to drag on for days until finally Evan showed up to relieve him of his turn. The boy had clapped him on the shoulder, a move that would normally have gained him a glare, but as he wished Daryl good luck all he could do in response was nod. Daryl walked the few blocks back to the apartment building where he and Beth lived amid numerous handshakes and calls of congratulations. He had never realized exactly how quickly news spread in a small town before this. Even though they had only been there days everyone knew his and Beth's basic story, or as much as the group they had traveled there with did. By the time he reached the door to their apartment his palms were sweaty with nerves. 

Daryl ducked inside the room and shook his head to clear his nerves. He looked up and caught a glimpse of Beth standing nervously in the hallway and his breath left his body in a rush at the sight. 

Her hair was out of its usual ponytail and twisted up in a knot on the top of her head. He could still see the small braid that she kept in her hair twisted in among it. She was wearing sandals and a short white dress and she tugged at the hem shyly as he looked her from head to toe. 

"Sarah brought it over." she explained nervously as she ceased tugging on the hem to cross her arms over her chest sheepishly. "She found it in the closet of their place and thought I might want to go with the traditional color today." 

Daryl had to clear his throat before he could respond. "You look beautiful." his voice still sounded choked as he kept staring at her. She blushed and turned away to grab something from the table next to her but Daryl found he could not tear his eyes away from her to see what it was. He did not think he had ever seen something so breathtaking. 

Beth thrust a light blue shirt into his hands and he finally tore his eyes away from her to stare down at the button up in distaste. 

"Luke brought that over for you." she said softly, her hands still resting on his. "You don't have to wear it if you don't want to." 

Daryl didn't say anything as he pulled away from her to tug his dirty shirt over his head and pull the blue shirt on. The material was tight on his arms but he didn't complain as Beth reached over to button it up for him. As she reached the last one her fingers stilled and she stared up at him. Neither of them said anything for a moment before she pulled away from him and grabbed the rings sitting on the table. The rings had been given to them by other town members who had gone through the jewelry of their apartments previous owners. It seemed as though Winston had not seen any festivities in a long time because everyone was jumping at the chance to help their newest couple get married. 

"We should go to the church." Beth said softly as he nodded and took her hand tightly in his. 

They walked to the church in a nervous silence, the others in the town following at their heels. Daryl swallowed nervously as they entered the church where he assumed that the entire population of Winston, meager as it was, was already crowded inside the pews. 

He exchanged a nervous look with Beth but she squeezed his hand lightly as they walked down the aisle together. They had decided the night before in their meeting with Pastor Clyde that they wanted as little fanfare to the wedding as possible. No piano march, no extensive vows. Although she never mentioned it Daryl was sure that Beth did not want to make the march down the church aisle alone, not without her father there to give her away. 

As such, they made their way down the aisle hand in hand, both of their palms slick with sweat. Although the church was crowded Daryl could still feel the empty spaces where their friends and family from the prison should have been. As they neared the vacant front row of pews, he allowed himself to imagine that he would look over and see Rick and Carl smiling at him encouragingly or that Beth would be able to reach out her hand and squeeze Maggie's as they made their way to the pastor. 

Instead they walked through a church packed with strangers and came to a stop in front of the old pastor in silence. They turned to face each other as he instructed and Daryl caught sight of the empty front pew. He saw the pained look in Beth's eyes and knew she had seen it too. Sadly, he squeezed her hand, sighing as she returned the pressure. 

In the second row he caught sight of the group that they had traveled there with, Sarah dabbing at her eyes with a kerchief. Luke gave Daryl a thumbs up close to his chest which Daryl responded to with a small nod. The pastor began his speech and Daryl turned to stare into Beth's eyes, one ear tuned to the pastor's melodic voice and the other waiting for Beth to cry out that this was a mistake, that she was not ready for this yet. 

Instead he heard her whisper "I do." 

Daryl blinked in surprise as she smiled at him shyly and he heard a faint buzzing in his ears as though bees had suddenly filled his brain. Her eyes were wide and bright on his and he found his heart beating faster as the meaning behind her words began to sink in. She had said yes. 

Beth had just agreed to be his wife. 

Even after talking about it, even after her own suggestion that they get married in Winston, he still felt shocked. He had never before expected to be married because he never thought that there would be a woman alive who would want to marry a man like him. And now the kindest, most beautiful, and strongest woman he had ever met just agreed to marry him. 

Daryl suddenly realized that Beth was looking at him with a startled fear in his eyes and the buzzing in his ears had stopped. He cast a quick look at the pastor who was looking at him expectantly. 

"What?" Daryl asked, unsure of where they were in the ceremony. 

He looked back at Beth in time to see her bite her bottom lip to hold down a smile and he heard a snort from the pews that he would have bet money on was Luke. 

"Do you take Beth Greene to be your lawfully wedded wife?" Pastor Clyde repeated slowly, Daryl nodding before he had even finished the sentence. 

"I do." he meant to say it strongly, loud and sure, to make up for his mistake earlier but instead it came out in a croaked whisper as his voice failed him. Beth beamed as the church erupted in applause and Pastor Clyde began to call out that he could now kiss his bride but by that point Daryl had already pulled her into his arms. 

As they pulled away Daryl couldn't help but imagine what his brother would say about him promising to love Beth and only Beth. Merle would have shaken his head and informed Daryl very loudly that he was a fool, that there were so many women in the world he should not be trying to settle himself down with just one. He would tell him that he should just cut her and the kid loose. But then Daryl knew Merle would have pulled him to him roughly in a hug and pounded a hand onto his back. And in that clap would be everything that he was not willing to say out loud, that he was happy for them and that he hoped they were happy. 

Daryl shook the thoughts of his brother away as he and Beth turned to face the crowd. After nearly half an hour of shaking hands with strangers who kept calling out congratulations, they finally managed to escape the church and head out to their apartment. They managed to keep control of themselves and their hands off of each other just long enough to get to their door at which point Beth had pulled Daryl to her in a passionate embrace. 

Kicking the door shut with his boot Daryl buried his hands in Beth's hair as his lips moved softly against hers. He backed her into the room as her fingers began to tug at the buttons on his shirt. She pushed the blue fabric off of his arms, which the moment they were free of the cloth, he wrapped tighter around her body as he walked them to the couch. Beth giggled breathlessly as he twirled her around and sat on the couch, pulling her down onto his lap. 

Straddling him Beth kissed him tenderly before pulling away to rest her forehead against his. Daryl rested his hands on her hips as they both struggled to catch their breath. 

Beth giggled again and Daryl felt a small smile begin to form on his face at the look of pure happiness she was giving him. 

"What?" he whispered reaching up to tug her hair down from the messy bun it resided in. Wavy blonde strands fell down to curtain her face as she beamed at him. 

Beth shrugged, trying to bite back her radiant smile but not quiet managing to contain it. "I've just." she paused and closed her eyes for a moment before opening them and capturing him in pools of blue. "I've never been so happy." she admitted, her voice barely above a breath. 

Daryl slipped his hand behind her neck and pulled her closer to him, his lips brushed against hers as he whispered. "No points for you, Mrs. Dixon." 

He felt her smile against his lips before she rose her hands to cup his face. He could feel the cold metal of the ring on her left hand against his freshly shaved skin and felt his heart begin to beat faster at its touch. His hands quickly went to work pulling the white dress off over her head. The moment the dress was clear of her face Beth bent to press her lips to the crook of his neck and Daryl groaned in pleasure, his hands roaming up her bare thighs. For a moment he couldn't help but marvel at the clean sweet scent of her hair and the softness of her skin but then she kissed him next to his ear and he closed his eyes in ecstasy at the feel of her breath. 

Cupping the back of her head Daryl turned her face towards him and caught her lips with his own. He ran his tongue lightly over her lips causing her to part them instantly. As the kiss deepened Daryl reached behind her with his free hand and undid the snaps of her bra causing it to fall forward off her chest. She shrugged out of it quickly and leaned forward to press their bare chests against each other. Daryl felt himself harden and as Beth twitched her hips in a curricular motion above him, he knew she had felt it too. 

Daryl ran his fingers up over her bare side before she leaned back enough for him to cup her breast. Beth moaned against his lips as he rolled her nipple between his thumb and forefinger and his hand tightened in her hair at the sound. 

Beth's hands fluttered for a moment on his shoulders before she slid them down his bare chest to wrestle with the button on his pants. Her fingers fumbled for a moment before she managed to pop open the button and he felt her smile into his mouth at the victory. 

Beth slid down off his lap to rest on her knees on the floor before him. She hooked her fingers into the waistband of his pants and grinned up at him impishly. Daryl rose his hips off the couch as she slid the cloth down his legs, letting them puddle on the floor around his ankles. His boxers joined them a mere second later and Daryl stared down in awe as Beth rested her hands on each of his thighs before leaning down too take him into her mouth. 

His eyes fluttered closed as he groaned, the sweet moist feeling of her mouth around him was like heaven. She swirled her tongue around the tip of his penis, a move she knew drove him crazy, and Daryl let out a low moan his hands moving down to tangle in her hair. 

Beth continued her ministrations for a minute before Daryl finally began to tug at her hair. He felt uncomfortably close to finishing and due to some strange sentiment, he wanted their first time finishing as a married couple to be together. "Not yet." he whispered as she looked up at him. The sight alone almost sent him over the edge but Beth released him and rose up off her knees to stand before him. 

Trying to catch his breath Daryl leaned forward and roamed his hands up over her thighs. Slowly he hooked his fingers in the edge of her panties and slipped them down off her legs. She stepped out of them hastily, adding them to the pile of clothing on the floor. 

Her hands on his shoulders Beth put her legs on either side of his and Daryl reached between them to run his thumb over her clit causing her to make a noise deep in the back of her throat. Daryl placed a hand behind her back and pulled her closer towards him as he moved his thumb in slow circles. 

Beth reached down and gripped him in her hand and Daryl moved his hands to her hips as she slowly slipped him inside of her. For a moment she stilled on top of him, leaning her forehead down to rest against his as she ran her hands down to grip his biceps. 

"I love you." she whispered softly looking down into his eyes. 

Daryl moved one of his hands up to tuck a stand of hair behind her ear. "I love you too." 

They then lost themselves to the feel of each other's bodies. Beth kept her grip of his arms as she moved against him, rotating her hips every few moments in a move that never failed to make Daryl's breath hitch. Her own breath began to get ragged as her movements grew quicker and sloppier against him. Her nails dug into his shoulders and his own fingers clung to her hips and he felt her begin to tighten around him. The feel of it sent him right over the edge with her and she bent to whisper his name against his lips as she quivered in his arms. 

For a moment they simply held each other, fighting to gain control over their breath as the euphoria slowly left them. Beth dropped her head against his shoulder and he wrapped his arms tight around her back. 

"We're married." she suddenly whispered, her lips brushing against his skin softly. The wondrous amazement in her tone was not lost on him and Daryl felt his breath hitch in equal awe as she pulled away to look down into his eyes. 

"Daryl." Beth whispered as she rose her hands to cup his face, her eyes bright and intense on his. "We're _married_." a smile began to stretch across her lips and Daryl began to smile himself at the sight of it. 

"We're married." he agreed wondrously as she bent to kiss him again. 

The older woman's hands were cold as ice against the bare flesh of Beth's stomach and she shivered at the feel of the woman's slim fingers pressing against her skin. 

"Sorry love." Penny chuckled as she pressed her fingertips lightly against the sensitive skin of Beth's torso. The woman did not look up at Beth as she kneeled in front of her on the blue linoleum floor. The trio stood in a small room in what had originally been a dentist's office. The fenced in area of Winston did not have any doctor's offices so they had raided the ones on the outside in the early days when it became apparent that things would not be going back to normal anytime in the close future. They had then made do with the dentist's office, transforming it into the center of all medical activity. For a long time, the townsfolk had merely all pitched their assorted medical knowledge together to treat their wounded, all with varying degrees of success. When Penny had stumbled upon the town in her flight from Raleigh Pastor Clyde and George pleaded insistently for her to stay on and help with the many wounded people who managed to escape the overturn in Raleigh with their lives. She had stayed to assist them, her medical training unwilling to let her leave so many people in such drastic need of aid. 

Even after the people who somehow found the sanctuary Winston provided stopped coming from Raleigh she stayed. A fact that Beth and Daryl were certainly grateful for now as she conducted a physical on Beth and the baby, only a few days after the wedding. 

"When was your last period?" Penny asked as she rose to her feet to grab the clipboard resting on the counter behind her. 

Beth bit her lip as she tried to think back. She had become so irregular after the turn, what with the stress and the lackluster nutrition that it was hard to remember. She did remember having her period once in the farmhouse where her and Daryl had spent the winter because the previous owner had clearly been male and she had the very awkward time of explaining to Daryl why she was ripping up old t-shirts for rags. 

Beth paused to count back how long it had been since they had even been in the farmhouse and then she furrowed her brow as she tried to pinpoint how far back she had menstruated there. She couldn't help but remember when she used to put a red dot on her calendar to help her keep track of this back when she still lived at her parent's farmhouse. A neat trick Maggie had taught her, although now she supposed Maggie had used it for more than just knowing when to plan on going swimming with her friends. 

"Maybe two or three months ago?" Beth had meant to say it as a statement but her own uncertainty had made the end of it raise into a question. She looked over at Daryl where he lay lounged out on the dentist chair, where he had been since they had arrived, watching as Penny poked at Beth's stomach and listened to her heartbeat. 

He shrugged in response, not that she had expected her to keep track of such things for her. 

"Farmhouse?" Daryl asked suddenly, causing Beth to blink at him in surprise. He cleared his throat awkwardly as Penny looked at him as well. "Probably three months." he grunted before looking away at the framed pictures of teeth lining the walls. 

Beth blushed and looked down at her feet, she hadn't really anticipated that he would remember something like that. She felt a twinge of embarrassment before her mind truly registered that it was Daryl, and even if they weren't married, they had still been together nonstop for the last seven or eight months, most of it alone. It was hard to keep anything secret in that type of living arrangement. 

"Hmm." Beth looked up to see Penny tapping her finger against her lips in thought. "You're probably closer to the two-month marker than the three. That's just a guess however. As you can see, I don't exactly have the best equipment here." she brandished her arms at the drills that still sat in the room with a grin and Beth smiled at her in return, the doctor's easy-going demeanor was almost catching. 

"I wish I could tell you more, I really do." Penny sighed as she dropped her arms to her sides and looked between Beth and Daryl forlornly. "Unfortunately, I've never worked with a pregnant woman before. All of my experience with children has been after they were born." 

Daryl looked a bit nervous at that statement and his eyes flickered to Beth's immediately. She met his gaze with a worried look of her own before turning back to the doctor in confusion. 

"When we got here George said you had helped deliver a baby." she explained as she crossed her arms over her own stomach protectively, as if she could hide their unborn child from the truth she was about to hear. 

Penny nodded and Beth felt the tension in her chest loosen at the sight. She heard a small puff of air to her left where Daryl had sat up straight in the dentist chair and she knew that he had just let out his breath in relief. 

"The woman was already in labor when she got here." Penny explained shaking her head. "I got her through the birth, both the baby and the mother were fine." she reassured them before either of them could open their mouths to question her. "But I didn't work with her at all before that. I do have some knowledge of prenatal care from medical school but it's not incredibly extensive." Penny looked at the pair of them apologetically. "I do know that I can get you and the baby through this successfully. I promise all of you that." 

Beth reached over to grab Daryl's hand and he surprised her by holding it back. He was not incredibly comfortable with public displays of affection, not unless it was around people, he was extremely comfortable with. So far that meant he might wrap his arm around her when they were near Sarah or that he might touch the small of her back to lead her into Luke's apartment. Beth didn't mind however; it was just another thing that she loved about him. It made Beth feel as though their love had a secret private element to it, like their love was something that was too precious to be shared with everyone else. 

"Well it's not like we have any other options." Daryl grunted causing Penny to laugh and Beth to look at him in amazement. Hearing him make jokes was a novelty that she never quite got over. In the three years they had been together she only ever heard him joke in times where he felt threatened or uncomfortable, but as she thought about it, he probably felt both at the moment. Threatened by the fact that he didn't have the tools or knowledge to aid Beth and the baby in this situation and uncomfortable because he was sitting in a dentist chair as a stranger pulled up his wife's (Beth still felt a twinge of excited glee whenever she thought about the fact that she was his wife and he was her husband) shirt and touched her stomach while asking her questions about her period. 

"That's a good point." Penny agreed with a grin before she turned and began to rummage in the cupboards behind her. There was a few moments of rattling plastic bottles and Beth forced herself to breath calmly through her nose as Daryl squeezed her hand in reassurance. She didn't understand why she still felt so panicked, any doctor was better than no doctor right? It wasn't as if she had any room to complain about the fact that she would be giving birth in a dentist office instead of a hospital when Lori had to have Judith cut out of her on the dirty floor of a prison boiler room. Thinking of that only made her panicking and fear worse, as well as adding on a smidgen of guilt, and Beth felt herself clutching at Daryl's hand tighter as he looked up at her in worry. 

Thankfully at that moment Penny found what she was looking for and she let out a joyful, "Aha!" as she turned back around to face the couple, clearly unaware of the emotional upheaval Beth was currently in the middle of. Penny brandished a large white pill bottle at Beth, not the kind that came from a prescription but the bulk over the counter type of drug. Not quite ready to let go of Daryl Beth reached over and took the bottle with her other hand turning it around to read the label as Penny informed them that she, "Knew that I had seen some of those in here!" 

"Prenatal vitamins: vital during and after pregnancy." Beth read off slowly before looking up at Penny with a grateful smile. Even though she already had a bottle of these back at their apartment that she had stolen from the pharmacy when she had discovered she was pregnant she still felt grateful. "Thank you." she whispered as she turned the bottle over again to read the label for more information. 

From the corner of her eye she saw Penny wave her hand dismissively. "It's the least I can do." Beth looked up from the label in time to see Penny's face fall. "Actually, it's just about all I can do right now." she admitted as she looked at the pair of them with a guilty expression. "If I could just get my hands on some textbooks or some actual prenatal equipment, I could set both of your minds at ease. Hell, mine too." she admitted with a humorless laugh. 

Beth opened her mouth to tell Penny that she was doing more for them already than they ever could have hoped for when Daryl cut her off with a question. 

"You know where to get equipment like that?" his voice was quiet and calm but Beth felt her heart stutter in terror at the implication behind his question and she found herself hoping that Penny would say she didn't know, or that it was too far away to reach. 

"George told me there's a hospital a few miles away." Penny admitted, effectively crushing Beth's hopes and taking her breath as she continued. "They cleared out most of the usable things but they didn't think to take anything of the nature we would need." Penny tapped her fingers against her lips again and Beth could feel she was not going to like what the woman was about to say next. 

"You know, I bet there's still some of what we need there. Pastor Clyde and George won't send me out on missions, they say I'm too valuable to lose." Penny rolled her large brown eyes but Beth could not share her amusement, not when she knew where this was going. "If we could get a few people to agree to go to the hospital I could draw up what we need, write some lists." she looked at them hopefully, excited as though she had just given them the best news. Beth simply stared at her aghast as Daryl finally stood off of the dentist chair to stand beside her and say the words she had been dreading to hear. 

Beth closed her eyes in fear as Daryl announced "I'll go tomorrow."


	8. Chapter 8

"This is us here." George said as he placed a white chess pawn on top of a small square street section on a large map of the entire city of Winston. Daryl was surprised by the sheer size of the map. He had known that the area they lived in was only a section of the whole city but he had been unaware of exactly how small of a fraction it truly was. The city of Winston dwarfed their little safe zone so much it would almost be laughable if it wasn't so shocking. George then placed a black pawn roughly eight inches away from the first on the map. "And this is the hospital." he announced solemnly as he looked up at the group gathered before him. 

In truth Daryl would much rather be going on this mission alone. The materials that he was going to collect were only to benefit Beth, him and their baby. Sure, if another woman got pregnant here the materials would help them out as well but Daryl did not like the idea of asking others to join him on such a dangerous mission on the mere chance that it might help somebody else one day. Therefore, he had not asked for anybody to join him on his mission and had only asked George for directions to the nearest hospital. Unfortunately, George was not about to let anybody go outside alone unless they were leaving the town for good. Which was how Daryl found himself standing in George's small apartment, huddled around a desk in the early dawn light with Luke, Sarah, and a quiet woman who worked on the run team with Luke named Jill. 

Daryl wasn't too surprised that Luke had jumped at the chance to join him with this. He already worked on the run team so when they had been told about this run, he had been the first to volunteer. He said it was because he wanted to see more of the surrounding area but Daryl was pretty sure that was a lie. The small group that they had traveled to Winston with all lived across the hall from each other and often ate meals together or sat with each other at night telling jokes or stories, well they talked and Daryl mostly listened. Although they had only known each other for maybe three weeks the group had already formed a small bond. While it was a hell of a lot harder to trust people in this new world, bonds between people you did trust formed a lot quicker than they ever had before. They would never replace the prison group, never even come close, but it was nice to have people he could trust, to have friends. 

Jill had joined them because, in her words, she was "sick and tired of going to the same damn place every other day hoping to find something useful amid a bunch of garbage." Personally, Daryl thought that she actually did want to help Beth and the baby. Jill was alone in Winston according to Luke, no friends or family from before the turn. Daryl supposed she just wanted to help another family since she couldn't be with her own. 

The only one that Daryl had tried to convince to stay behind the safety of the fences was Sarah. She had shown up this morning with crossed arms and a defiant attitude that turned down everything anyone threw at her to get her to stay behind. She had gotten Oliver to watch after Roland for her until they got back and had gotten special permission to go on the run, as she was not on that team. Despite everything Daryl tried, assisted by Luke, she stubbornly stayed with them. 

"I'm the only one who knows what to look for!" she finally blew up at them, after the third time Luke told her that she should stay behind to be with her son. "Do any of you even know what a fetal heart monitor looks like?" she placed her hands on her hips and stared them down angrily as they all steamed ashamed with the knowledge that she was right. 

And so, she joined the team. 

George, who had been watching them argue with an almost amused expression, began to direct them to the hospital. The number of streets between them and the hospital was farther than Daryl had anticipated but he refused to let himself worry. He knew for a fact that Beth was worrying more than enough for the both of them. He did not think that either of them had slept that night. She had laid in his arms on their bed that night but he could hear that her breath was uneven and jagged, not the calm deep breathing of slumber. Daryl had felt a tear hit his arm before Beth had managed to wipe it away and he had pulled her closer against his back, his arms like a vice around her. 

"I have to go." he whispered into her ear and she wrapped her small cold hands around his wrists tightly. "If there's anything I can do to protect the two of you." he paused and cleared his throat nervously before resting his head against her shoulder. "I have to do this Beth." he mumbled against her skin. 

She hadn't responded, merely turned in his arms to face him and wrap her arms around him. They did not speak again, merely watched as their room grew lighter around them before he rose to go on his way. Neither of them had said good-byes. They had just stared at each other as he left the room, Beth still huddled among their tangled sheets, their eyes holding all the words they were too scared to say. To afraid that it might be the last thing. That their good-byes might really be good-byes. 

Daryl tried not to worry about what he was about to do while also fighting back the knowledge that this would be the first time he and Beth had been parted for any long period of time since the prison fell. He shook the lingering fears from him as he tuned back into what the others were discussing. 

"I'm not so good with maps." Luke admitted with a jovial smile as he leaned forward on his hands and surveyed the material spread out before him. He seemed to be worry free that morning, he had already grown used to risking his life every day as he stepped outside the fence. "Exactly how far is that?" 

"Ten miles give or take the route." George said sadly as he looked up at them. "We can get you a car but the closer inside the city you get the less clear the roads are." His eyes scanned each of their faces quickly. "The runners haven't been more than five miles inside in months. We have no idea what you'll be walking into. I'm sorry, but you're going in blind." 

Daryl shrugged nonchalantly; it didn't matter what warnings George gave them he would go anyway. He was more worried about what could happen to Beth and the baby (memories of Lori had begun to haunt him every time he slept) than of what might happen to him. 

When no one stepped down from what he clearly thought was a suicide mission George sighed and began to highlight various routes to the hospital. After he had drawn out five different ways for them to get there and discussed the finer points of each one, he folded up their map and passed it to Jill who shoved it into her back pocket without a word. 

"I'll walk you to the gate." George said as he grabbed a pair of keys off of a rack by his front door. As they walked in the early morning light the town was quiet, its citizens still sleeping soundly in their beds. Daryl didn't think he would ever get over the fact that there was a real town still left alive out here. He had thought that they were all corrupted by now. This one little slice of civilization never failed to quietly amaze him. 

"You have the list from Penny?" George asked Sarah, who was walking next to him. She nodded wordlessly and Daryl was beginning to see some of the fear in her face as they neared the blue extended cab pickup by the gate. Before he could tell her again to stay behind the fear seemed to disappear off of her face as she steeled herself for the job they had to do. "She wrote down the other things she was low on too right?" George asked quietly and Daryl blinked in surprise as Sarah nodded. Hearing that Daryl actually felt relived. It made sense to stock up on other products while they were already at the hospital and Daryl was glad that the others with him would be helping get things for others in the town as well, that they were not just going to help Beth and him. 

George stopped in front of the blue pickup and turned to face them. "We'll keep someone on this area of the fence until you get back. We'll get the fence open in time, don't worry." he held out the keys which Luke snatched from his hand immediately. 

"I'm driving." he announced unnecessarily, heading to the driver's seat and climbing up. Sarah and Jill slid into the back seat behind him and Daryl turned to head around to the passenger side before George reached out a hand and stopped him. 

"Daryl." the man paused as he seemed to mull over what he was going to say. After a moment he merely shook his head before clapping Daryl on the shoulder. "Good luck." 

As Daryl swung himself into the front seat he watched as the people on guard duty held their guns at the ready, as George slowly pulled the chain that opened the large fence. The moment the opening was large enough Luke took off like a shot and Daryl contemplated fastening his seat belt at his reckless driving. As they passed the gate, he cast a look in the rear-view mirror to watch as the gate was pulled shut behind them cutting off his view of the streets behind them. 

The truck was quiet as Jill pulled out the map and began to direct Luke to the hospital. For the first few miles he drove with ease on nearly clear streets, only passing three walkers, all of the cars and garbage pushed to the sides of the road. This was clearly one of the areas that the run team used often as neither he nor Jill seemed very concerned with watching for walkers at the moment. Daryl noticed the moment they drove out of the runner's territory because Luke's knuckles tightened almost imperceptibility on the steering wheel and the streets outside slowly became more rundown. Their pace slowed drastically as the streets began to be cluttered with abandoned cars and garbage. More and more walkers seemed to be appearing as well. 

After the fourth time they had found a street to be impassable Daryl finally caught sight of a sign for the hospital. He pointed to it wordlessly and felt, rather than heard, the group let out a collective sigh of relief. They were getting closer. 

Unfortunately, the walkers were also getting thicker. Daryl held his loaded crossbow with white knuckles as Luke led them slowly through the trashed city. Every now and then a walker would get close enough to grab the truck but Luke always managed to shake them off. As they approached the hospital parking lot Daryl saw in the mirror that they had quite a collection on their tail. 

"Luke." Sarah said nervously from the backseat. Daryl looked back at her and saw that she had half turned in her seat and was staring back at the horde. 

"I see 'em." Luke drove past the abandoned and rusted cars in the lot. "How do we get in?" he shot over his shoulder at Jill who shook her head quickly. 

"George didn't say." she admitted nervously. "But we need the truck to be as close to the door as possible so we can get the equipment in it." 

"Guess we improvise than." Luke ground out through gritted teeth before he turned the truck to approach the glass doors of the hospital's main entrance. 

"Luke." Sarah said again, this time in fear. Daryl glanced at her again and saw she was staring with eyes wide as Luke sped towards the front of the hospital and Daryl realized what he was planning to do. 

"Seat-belts." was all he said in response as he drew his own across his chest and fastened it. There were three quick clicks as the others did as he bid without question. As the truck bumped over the curb and gained speed as it approached the doors Daryl carefully pointed his crossbow at the floor and braced his arm against the dashboard. He felt Jill grip the back of his seat and noticed Luke clench his jaw just as the front of the truck slammed through the glass doors with a crash so loud Daryl felt it in his bones. Luke managed to pull to a stop just before the front desk and the group sat in stunned silence for a moment as they all realized what he had just done. 

"Well that went well." Luke said with a laugh as he looked over at all of them. 

"You do realize we now have to drive out over that broken glass." Sarah said in the forced calm voice that she usually only reserved for her son as she glared into the front seat at him. 

The laugh slowly began to slip off of Luke's face as he realized the truth in her words. 

"Not to mention you also just drew the attention of every corpse in a five-mile radius." Jill spat angrily. 

"Shit." Luke cursed under his breath as he took the keys out of the ignition. 

"You no longer get to make plans." Sarah said morosely as she placed her head in her hands. 

Luke looked to Daryl for help but he simply shook his head and grabbed his crossbow from the floor. They didn't have time to argue over how stupid of a way that was to enter the hospital. They were inside the hospital now and they had a job to do. A job they had to do quicker now since they had a horde of walkers on their ass. 

Daryl's fingers had just closed around the door handle when two dirty hands slammed against the glass pane of his window. 

"Miss Beth miss Beth!" the small child threw herself around Beth's legs exuberantly, causing Beth to stumble back a step as the child stared up at her with wide brown eyes. "Will you still be here tomorrow?" 

Pushing aside her worried thoughts, Beth managed to scrounge up a reassuring smile for the small girl. "Yes Allie. I will be here tomorrow. Why do you ask?" 

Allie's mouth stretched into a wide grin, showing off her two missing front teeth. "My mommy says that you and Daryl aren't going to stay long. She says that men like him don't stay in one place too long." 

Beth bit back the twinge of annoyance at the woman's words as well as the overwhelming sense of worry she felt for Daryl. It was going on dinner time now and she had heard no word about the recon party. Shoving down all of her emotions Beth forced herself to keep smiling at the young girl, her mother's words were not her own after all. 

Kneeling down she placed her hands on either side of Allie's fading blue t-shirt. "We're not going anywhere." she reassured her, staring deep into the child's innocent wide eyes. 

Allie bit her lip and looked down at the floor of the old daycare center that was now used as a school for anyone under the age of eight to attend while everyone else performed their assigned duties. There were two other 'teachers' besides Beth, one an elderly woman who everyone just called Gran. She was very old, her hair white like cotton and her eyes filled with cataracts. She didn't do much besides set in the corner and tell stories to empty air. Sometimes people sat and listened to her and sometimes they didn't. Either way she still recounted her tales unbothered by the presence or lack of an audience. 

The other teacher was a woman in what Beth assumed to be her mid or late thirties. Olivia had been a sixth-grade teacher before the turn and she managed to get the children to actually learn things in the mornings, such as reading or arithmetic, before it all turned back into a glorified daycare center. 

There were only nine kids in the school full time. They had six kids between the ages of eight and eleven that came every other morning to be taught a little bit more about science or math. Nothing they were taught could possibly be that vital to their survival now but learning it seemed to calm the children. None of them had probably enjoyed school very much before the turn but after it was a startlingly comforting return to normalcy. 

Beth had a feeling if she were not pregnant, she would not have been put here. Olivia handled the children just fine without her, but Beth thought George just wanted her to learn more about being near children before she had one. He didn't know that he had no reason to worry about her ability to care for children, after all he didn't know about Judith. 

Allie suddenly held out her small hand towards Beth, her minuscule pinkie stinking out. "Do you pinkie swear?" she whispered reverently, as if doing so was akin to swearing on the name of God, or on someone you love. 

Beth felt her smile transform into a genuine one as she linked her pinkie with the small girl's. "Pinkie swear." she repeated causing Allie to beam at her. 

"Alright kids!" Olivia cried out as she rose from the table where she had been coloring with a few of the older children. "Its closing time!" 

Chairs scrapped back as the children and teachers, minus Gran, all began to perform a well-choreographed dance of cleaning up the room and putting all of the things away. Desks were wiped down, crayons put into proper color-coded jars, books were lined up against the walls. Beth moved in autopilot, her heart already beginning to pound with hope that Daryl would be back at their apartment when she returned. That he was here and had just forgotten to send someone to tell her. That was too unlike him but perhaps he had just arrived and they hadn't had time to send someone to calm her racing heart. 

With so many helping hands the room was clean and ready for the next day in barely no time. Olivia stood with her hands on her hips and surveyed the area with appraising eyes. She nodded in acceptance. "Good work team." she said clapping her hands as the children began to shift from foot to foot waiting to be dismissed. "Go home!" Eight kids darted out of the doors quickly, with cries of 'good-bye' and 'see you tomorrow'. Beth stood and watched them go before she felt Olivia place a hand on her shoulder. 

Beth looked back at her and tried to make her face a careful blank mask. She did not need to burden anyone else with her worries. Unfortunately, Olivia was far too used to people trying to poker face her. She stared at Beth for a long moment before she squeezed her shoulder lightly. "He'll be okay." she whispered. "They'll all be back soon, you'll see." Before Beth could respond the older woman turned her back on her and headed to Gran who was telling the empty corner about the time that she had stolen candy from the gas station. "Time to head out Gran." Olivia said kindly, reaching out a hand to pass Gran her cane. 

Gran cut her story off mid-sentence, a shame as Beth was secretly wanting to know if she had managed to outrun the shopkeeper's dogs. Shaking her head Beth turned to the lone remaining child. "Ready Ro?" she asked holding out her hand. 

Roland looked up at her with surprisingly solemn eyes. "They aren't back yet." he whispered fearfully, sounding far older than he was. Beth sighed and knelt down next to him where he sat at one of the low tables, his feet still dangling inches from the floor. 

"They'll be back soon." she said reaching forward to hold his small and sticky hand. Roland looked up at her with big and trusting eyes and Beth felt her heart clench. Praying that what she said next would be true Beth whispered to him softly. "You know they'll get back here safe. Your mom's a fighter." she brushed a stray curl out of his eyes and wondered dimly when he last had a haircut. "Luke does runs all the time. He's smart enough to keep them out of trouble. Jill too." 

Roland drank her words up like someone dying of thirst. "And Daryl?" he asked when Beth paused. 

Just the mere sound of his name made her heart pound faster in fear. Her mind was screaming frantic questions at him but she forced herself to look at Roland calmly. 

"Daryl's a survivor." she said simply, a drastic understatement in her mind. Daryl was much more than that, he was a fighter too. He would not go down easily nor would he let those with him go that simply either. It was his presence there that allowed her not to worry over the others. All her worry was saved for him. "If anybody can keep them all safe its Daryl." 

Roland looked at her, quieter than she had ever seen him. He bit his lip and stared down at his sneakered feet kicking lightly in the air. "Okay." he said as he jumped down from the chair. 

Beth stared after his small form as he waved good-bye to the two teachers in the corner and headed out the front door of the school. Beth followed after him quickly and walked next to his side, watching as the sun before them began to dip lower in the sky. They were almost to the end of the street before he slowly reached up and gripped her hand tightly in his. Beth returned the pressure gently, as if she could appease his worries and her own with the mere presence of her hand in his. 

"Aw there you are!" a familiar voice called from the lone metal bench on the corner up ahead. Oliver rose to his feet shakily and headed across the intersection towards them. "Thought you'd taken a new route and abandoned me." he clucked Roland under the chin as he joined them, his eyes twinkling down at his great-godson as he reached down to clutch his other hand in his withered one. 

The three headed down the street in silence, waving at the people who passed them on their own ways home. Oliver's proximity seemed to have called some of Roland's worry for his mother because as they walked, he began to have a light bounce return to his step, Beth and Oliver shared a small smile over his head. Beth could see her own worry reflected in his eyes before he turned to face forward again. Strange, being with the only two people in the town who could understand her current worries and breathless fear almost calmed her down. 

Someone stepped in front of them then and Oliver let out a light sigh of relief that Beth only heard due to their closeness. "George." he said easily, as though this was an everyday encounter and not that he wanted to jump on the younger man for answers about their family and friends. 

George gave the three of them a curt nod. In the back of her mind, the small part that was not waiting breathlessly for news noticed that he seemed to have wood chippings coating his shoulders. "They're not back yet" he said before Beth could even open her mouth. She felt her blood run cold at that simple statement. George must have seen the look of horror on her face because he quickly moved to reassure her. "They're likely fine. They probably just got held up or have decided to wait the night out at the hospital." George's demeanor was clam but Beth looked up at the sun that still held at least two more hours of daylight with a pointed look. 

George sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets. "We're keeping a watcher on the gates for them still." he reassured as he patted Oliver on the shoulder and moved to head down the street the way he was going. "I am sure they will be back unharmed." 

The moment he was out of earshot Beth turned to face Oliver over Roland's head, who was leaning back to look up at the pair of them. "What did he mean?" she whispered fiercely. "Keeping a guard for them _still_? Were they planning on giving up?! It hasn't even been a day!" she managed to keep her voice in a whisper due to sheer willpower alone. Cold fury was slowly beginning to burn out her worry. No one was allowed to give up on the recon party, not this soon, not ever. 

Oliver was shaking his head at her in surprise, whether at her rage or her words Beth was unsure. "You didn't hear?" he asked, shaking his head to himself when Beth simply looked at him with blank eyes. "I suppose you wouldn't have, no need to worry the children." At Beth's impatient look Oliver explained calmly. "Walkers broke down a section of the outer fence earlier. They've put nearly all their manpower to fixing it." 

Beth's heart surged in a new feeling of fear. "They get in?" she whispered; this time unable to raise her voice above it. 

Oliver shook his head reassuringly. "They were stopped before they got to the inner fence. No one was harmed." 

Letting out a relieved sigh Beth ran her free hand over her eyes. She was exhausted from her lack of sleep from the night before and the turbulent emotions she had been riding like a roller coaster all day. 

"C'mon." Oliver said as he started forward, leaning on his cane. "It's been a long day. Let's get some food into the two of you." 

The glass window of the trunk was still vibrating with the force the palms had slammed into his window with as Daryl swung his loaded crossbow up and pointed it at the dirty form he could just make out in the early morning light streaming through the crashed in glass doors. Tangled brown hair was pulled away from the creature's face, which was covered with a dirty red bandanna. Just as Daryl was reaching for the door handle to slam it into them, the figure moved its hands off the truck to tear the bandanna from its face angrily. 

The passengers of the truck stared in a stunned silence at the bright eyes of a woman, only a handful of years older than Beth, glaring fiercely at them. 

"What the fuck assholes?!" she yelled angrily as she hit the window of the truck again as if intent on shattering it to pieces to join the glass of the doors now scattered broken on the floor. 

Daryl tore his eyes from her long enough to look at the others in the cab with him. Sarah had her head in her hands, whether in relief or worry Daryl wasn't sure, Jill was clutching her unsheathed knife in her lap with white knuckles and Luke was staring at the girl open mouthed in surprise. 

"What the hell were you trying to do?" the girl asked, her voice lower but still loud enough for them to hear the anger through the glass as she cast a furtive look behind her out the broken remains of the door. 

"We need some equipment." Sarah called back out calmly, gripping the backs of the seats to lean into the front half of the truck, showing herself to the girl outside. 

The girl raised an eyebrow. "And you couldn't use a fucking door?" Daryl saw her hand go to the knife on her belt and he slid his finger onto the trigger of his still raised crossbow. The girl wasn't looking at them, however, her wide and panicked eyes were staring out behind the truck at the parking lot beyond the door frame. He heard her mumble a curse under her breath. She turned to face the truck again and surveyed the inside with wary and distrusting eyes. 

"What equipment are you here for?" she asked quickly, before her eyes darted away again. 

Daryl spoke quickly before the others had the chance. This was not a danger he had considered he might be getting them drug into. It was because of him that they were in this situation, well him and Luke's terrible driving, so he felt that he should be the one to speak up for them. "Fetal heart monitor. Ultra sound equipment." 

The girl stared into his eyes through the dirty glass for a long moment before she seemed to come to an almost reluctant decision. "Follow me, quickly." she turned on her heels and headed down a hallway to the right of the entrance desk not pausing to look over her shoulder to see if they followed. There was a beat before Jill opened her door and tore across the broken glass after her, the rest of the passengers following quickly. Daryl brought up the rear and as he turned down the hallway, he shot a look at the broken doors and the first of the walkers beginning to shamble through them. 

"They're in." he told the girl as he darted through the door, she was holding open for him. 

She snorted as he passed, turning in after him and shutting the door softly. Daryl watched in muted fascination as she moved several wooden beams into place, baring it shut. 

"No shit. Crash that loud is gonna have this place covered in minutes." her tone held nothing but anger and resentment as she turned to glare at Luke. "What the hell were you thinking driver boy?" she demanded, her hands on her hips, dangerously close to her knife. Daryl began to slowly raise his crossbow and Luke shifted uncomfortably under the weight of her glare. 

"I don't do well under pressure." he finally offered with a shrug. Everyone was quiet for a moment before the stranger let out a sharp bark of laughter, her hands falling to her sides. 

She shook her head at him and headed off farther into the room that Daryl now realized was full of medical equipment shoved to the sides and a large amount of hospital beds and gurneys. Some of which were full of bodies. People, living people, all turning their wide eyes to look at the strangers now amongst them. Daryl's fingers tightened on his crossbow as the girl turned back to face them, spreading her arms wide. 

"Welcome to paradise." she announced sarcastically before hooking her fingers into her belt loops. "Might as well make yourselves comfortable. After that noise, y'all won't be able to leave for a while." 

The people on the gurneys surveyed their small group with wary eyes. Daryl forced himself to lower his crossbow, although his grip on it did not slacken. He looked them over with the same wariness, there seemed to be just under twenty of them and none of them looked like the fighting type. Three of them were children who had moved to huddle together on the same bed at the sight of the strangers in their midst. Several others appeared to be close to or over the age of fifty. There was a man sitting and staring at them from a wheelchair and a girl who looked at them with only one eye, the other covered with a large white bandage. Only three others, besides the girl who had led them there, looked like they would be able to hold their own in a fight, and none of them looked like they would last a fight with him. Slowly Daryl lowered his cross bow to his side. 

"If you're here for equipment then you must have a camp." the girl looked them over from head to toe with appraising eyes. "Not that far from here either." 

For a moment no one else spoke. Daryl shifted uneasily, three long forgotten questions running through his mind as he looked at the people before them. 

But it was Jill who spoke first. "We live in a fenced in section of Winston, about ten miles from here." she said in a slow reassuring voice. Daryl felt a twinge of surprise that she was willing to give up that much information about their safe zone that quickly, but the people there were much more trusting than the prison had ever been. 

The girl cast a quick glance over her shoulder at the people behind her. "You accepting new residences?" she asked with a raised eyebrow as she turned back to face them. 

From the corner of his eye Daryl saw Luke and Jill exchange a quick look. It seemed that the runners weren't sure of the protocol when it came to groups of this size. 

"All of you?" Luke finally asked shifting uncomfortably, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans. 

The girl nodded solemnly, her eyes dark and intense on them. "They don't go I don't go." her back straightened as her voice seemed to drop a decibel as she stared at them. "And if I don't go, neither do any of you." 

Daryl's fingers tightened on his bow and he saw the others straighten and shift at her words. "Threatening us won't exactly get us to take you with us." Jill said slowly, her calm voice at odds with her clenched fists. 

The girl snorted, crossing her arms over her chest. "Not a threat. Fact. You can't get your truck out over that mess _you_ made. Besides that, how do you plan on finding the things you need? Just gonna wander around this hospital? Not all of its clear you know." she raised an eyebrow at them as the truth of her words sunk in. 

The four of them exchanged wary looks before she continued. "Besides you did just break our door. We don't have an endless supply of protection in case you haven't noticed." 

Daryl saw Jill's shoulders tighten for a moment before she nodded. "Fine. You help us get what we need and we'll show you the way to our camp." 

The shadow of a smile passed over the girl's face. "I know how to get to the maternity ward. The ambulances are still on the back lot. I have the keys; we'll load the equipment up and take those." 

Sarah let out a small sigh of relief. "Well that sounds like a better plan than what we'd had." 

Nodding happily the girl moved to sit at the foot of an empty bed while she looked them all over. "Which one of you is pregnant?" the girl asked suddenly. Sarah quickly shook her head while Jill let out a snort. 

"Equipment is for my wife." Daryl grunted, his fingers relaxing minusculely on the bow at the mere thought of Beth. 

The girl nodded solemnly as she took in this new information before she leaned back on her hands. "Y'all might as well sit down. We aren't gonna be able to leave this room for a while." 

Everyone fell quiet as the sounds of walkers stumbling through the hospital corridors began to reach their ears. Slowly Daryl settled on one of the empty beds next to Sarah, who was sitting ramrod straight and twisting her hands in her lap. She cast a worried grin at him before looking back down at her hands. 

Slowly, the time began to tick by and those in the hospital told them how they had come to be there. The girl who had led them to the emergency ward, where they currently resided, was named Molly. She had been a nurse in this ward the day the turn came. She and a few other hospital workers had tried to close up the hospital when it became apparent what was happening outside of it. They were too late; walkers had already gotten in and people were beginning to die. Her and another nurse had managed to get some of the other patients into the emergency ward before closing it off. 

They had managed to barricade the entrances and were trying to help the frantic patients inside when one of them died from their wounds. They turned not long after, informing all of those inside what happens to those who die, even without a bite. The other nurse managed to kill it, but not before the corpse had pulled a chunk out of his throat. 

After those that could not be healed died and were then put down again, Molly and the remaining living patients managed to survive by sneaking into the cafeteria a few days into the turn. They had a stockpile and a ration system that had kept them alive to date. They were running low, however, which Molly claimed was the reason they wanted to join them in their safe zone. Personally, Daryl thought that they mainly wanted to join them in Winston to get away from the darkness of the hospital and the smell of death that still lingered in the room. 

After Molly and the fifteen other people in the room had told them their tale Daryl left to check if the coast was clear. After removing the bars enough to open the door he frowned at the sight of several walkers still stumbling in the hallway. Barring off the door again he returned glumly to his perch next to Sarah, slightly dismayed to find that during his absence the hospital group had managed to get his companions to start telling them their own stories. 

Sarah told them of Oliver and Roland and their narrow escape from Richmond. She told them how they ran into Luke and his original group and then into Beth and Daryl. She explained very quickly their journey to Winston and how nice and safe it was there. 

Jill recounted her hiding in her apartment with her girlfriend and then leaving when they ran out of food. They happened to stumble up to the fence of Winston only a few weeks after they had left but by that point her girlfriend had already been bit. She spoke quickly as if she could make her words less painful by not holding them for too long in her mouth. 

Luke regaled them all with a long drawn out tale of his escape from upstate New York and the mindless wanderings he did before he stumbled upon his first group and they told him about Winston. He then recounted Sarah's version of their conjoined tale, only with much more embellishing. During his long tale Daryl went again to check on the hallway, sighing in relief to find it empty. 

He returned to the few chuckles at the end of Luke's tale when the strangers turned all eyes to him expectantly. 

"Well then archer, what's your story?" Molly asked him with a grin, she seemed to be far more relaxed now that she knew all of them were going somewhere far safer than their boarded off emergency ward. 

"Hallways clear." Daryl informed them, checking the bolt in his crossbow silently thankful that he would be spared having to tell his tale. He did not want to be bogged down by his past, not today when he had to focus on his future and the future of his and Beth's child. "We should head out." 

A few of the former patients let out disappointed sighs. For a moment Daryl was confused as to why before he realized this was likely the first form of entertainment they had had in years. A small part of him felt almost guilty for depriving them of another story, but his story would likely only make them sad so the guilt past quickly. 

"Before you go, will you answer one question?" a whizzed old woman asked as she struggled to sit up in her bed. The younger man next to her quickly jumped up to help ease her into a sitting position. 

Daryl bit back a sigh as he nodded. He was sick of waiting around, he wanted to get what they came for and go. He wanted to spare Beth any minute of worry he could, sure that it could not be good for her or the baby. 

"How did you meet her?" the old woman asked, her gray eyes strangely intense on his. "This woman you've risked your life for today? This Beth, what led the two of you to each other?" she was leaning forward, toward him now, as if his answer was something she had been pondering over for years instead of mere minutes. 

Daryl shifted his bow up higher as he thought over her question. She probably wanted some long drawn out love story or some mention of faith and extraordinary circumstances. But his and Beth's story was much simpler than that. They had not been brought together by some grand act of fate or God. They had fallen in love because he had fallen into a dark pit of despair and she was the only thing bright enough to drag him out of it. Even the reason that they met was not an amazing and hope filling reason. 

Almost feeling bad for the disappointment he was sure to give her Daryl muttered "Carl got shot." before motioning the others to follow him as he headed toward the door. 

Poking listlessly at the food before her Beth tried dutifully to eat at least some of the meal Oliver had provided for her. Not because she was hungry or had any real desire to fill her nervous stomach with anything but because she knew that the baby needed the nutrients. Dimly she thought about how her life would always be like this now, putting the baby's needs and wants before her own. Beth found she didn't mind, that she was actually looking forward to being a mother. She wanted to have someone who needed her. She had always felt that she was almost too dependent on other people, that no matter what she did she had always been the needing and not the needed. It was nice for that to have changed, even if it was just for a few people. 

Because of course Daryl needed her too. She knew that, but he needed her in a very different way than their child would ever need her. The baby needed her to live, at least for the moment, and for her to protect them. Daryl needed her to keep himself out of despair, to keep him believing that there was still good left in this terrible world. It had taken her a long time to realize how much of their love was based on them keeping each other human. She needed him as well of course, Beth felt that she needed him far more than he could ever need her. Daryl pushed her to be braver than she thought she ever could be. With Daryl she could be stronger than she thought would be possible, it was with him when she realized she was tough enough to live like this. To live in this awful world. 

Beth didn't know what she would do if Daryl did not come back from this trip. He was supposed to have been back by now. The sun had set hours ago and the town had sunk into the darkness of the new moon. Flickering candlelight lit the meal in front of her that Beth was unable to eat, not matter how hard she tried. Every bite turned to sawdust in her mouth at the unwelcome thoughts that kept shoving into her mind. 

They should have been back by now. 

Something was terribly wrong. 

Daryl might be dead. 

"All this worrying isn't good for the baby." Oliver spoke reassuringly as he reached across the table to squeeze her hand. Torn from her thoughts Beth looked up at him and nodded, squeezing his cold hand back. 

"I know." she whispered softly, mindful of Roland's sleeping form on the couch behind her. She shrugged as she struggled to explain the worries that were tearing her apart. "What if they don't come back?" she whispered finally; her voice full of fear. "What if something happened? They should have been here by now." 

Oliver squeezed her hand again. "They're tough people Beth." he whispered. "All of them. Sarah." He swallowed hard at the name of his god daughter and in that one motion Beth saw the worry he had been masking from them all day. "Sarah's not going to let anything prevent her from getting back to her boy. And you have to know she wouldn't let anything stop Daryl from getting back to you either." Oliver let out a dry chuckle. "Hell, I don't think there’s a force on earth that could stop Daryl from coming back to you." 

Blushing slightly, Beth bit her lip and nodded. She knew that Oliver was right, the four who had gone on the run were all people who were well equipped to handle the world outside of the fences. She had seen Daryl in action against walkers more times than she could remember, but even all of that didn't make it any easier. Her gut would not unclench its hold on this terrified feeling. 

Silently apologizing to the baby for the meal it would not be receiving that night Beth put down her fork and pulled her other hand from Oliver's. Propping her elbows on the table she buried her head in her hands. "I just don't know what I would do if he didn't come back." she admitted, her voice as light as a breath. 

Oliver was saved from having to respond to her startling admission by the sudden knock on the door. Beth's head snapped up at the sound and she met Oliver's startled eyes. They stared at each other for a breath before Roland sat up and yawned on the couch. 

"Where's mom?" he asked groggily, rubbing his eyes with his hands as he looked around the room for a woman who was not there. 

Oliver began to raise to his feet and Beth pushed her chair back so fast it fell over, stumbling over it in her haste to reach the door. Nearly crashing into the wall from her speed Beth wrenched the door open in a rush, her knees nearly buckling as Roland threw himself against them to see if it was his mother on the other side of the wood. 

Instead of Sarah, in front of the door was a young man Beth dimly recognized as being one of the night gate watchers. His job was to open the fences when runners came back late or to simply keep an eye out for walkers or anyone who might be intent to harm Winston. It was the same thing that Daryl did only on a different time shift so this was one of the ones whose name Beth had not yet learned. 

He was panting as he leaned against the door frame and he looked at Beth with startled brown eyes. He had clearly been expecting Oliver and he looked behind her to see him shuffling towards the three of them, cane gripped tight in his hands. 

"Well?" Oliver asked hastily as he approached the boy. Beth found that her hands were clenched white knuckle tight against the door in desperation for what this boy being here might mean. 

"Cars came through." he panted, pushing off the door frame to stand straight as he looked at them. "Through the east gate." 

"Who was in them?" Oliver asked, pushing past Beth's arm to reach forward and grip the boy's arm. Beth's heart began to pound within her chest as the boy began to shake his head. 

"I only saw Jill. Don't know if the others-" 

Without sparing a backwards glance Beth shoved past him and darted down the hallway. Behind her she heard Oliver barking at the boy to get out of the way and the sound of quick moving feet behind her. 

She pushed out the apartment building's lobby doors with a crash and spun in a circle on the darkened street, trying to locate the east gate in the darkness. Directions had never been her strong suit and in the dark every way looked the same. Hearing the sound of people talking Beth took off at a sprint, her feet hitting the pavement almost as loudly as her heart was beating in her ears. She had never run so fast in her whole life as she had in that moment, certainly not before the turn and not even in fleeing from walkers after. Desperation flooded her body and all she could think about was Daryl, Daryl, Daryl. His name raced through her veins with her pulse as she rounded a street corner and started in surprise at the three ambulances sitting just past the closed east gate. 

The smallest twinge of astonishment went through her, she knew the run group had taken a truck, but she did not have time to think about vehicles at the moment. There were several people around the ambulances, people she did not recognize and far more than had been on the run. She spotted Jill, as the boy had promised, talking to Sarah which caused her gut to unclench slightly. 

Beth was still scanning the crowd desperately when she heard a familiar voice coming from the other side of the ambulances. Hardly daring to breath, she darted around the ambulances where she saw Luke, his left arm wrapped in a stained bandage, helping an elderly woman down into a wheelchair. Holding the wheelchair steady was the only person she wanted to see in that moment. 

"Daryl." she breathed, whether in relief or euphoria she was unsure of. 

Despite the softness of her tone Daryl heard her voice, he straightened and looked over his shoulder to where she stood. In that moment when he looked at her Beth could have sworn that he had been gone far longer than seventeen hours. It had been months; it had been years. As she looked at him Beth felt a lightness bloom in her chest that she had never before experienced. 

Her worry drained from her so quickly Beth felt she could no longer remain standing. A dry laugh of relief escaped from her lips as she all but fell forward into his opening arms. Daryl clutched her to his chest as tightly as she must have been holding him, her arms wrapped tight around his back in an effort to bring him even closer. For a moment neither of them said anything, simply stood in the protection of each other's arms. She felt Daryl breath in deeply where his face was buried in her hair and she closed her eyes at the overwhelming relief that he was safe and he was here. 

Daryl pulled away from her slowly and she smiled up at him as he brushed a loose section of her hair behind her ear. 

"I've never been so worried about you." she whispered as she reached up to clutch his hands where they had stilled on either side of her face. 

Daryl didn't respond as he leaned down to kiss her. As his mouth moved against her own Beth could feel what Daryl was unable to say to her out loud. He'd been just as scared that he wouldn't come back as she had been. 

Pulling away Beth rested her head on his chest for a moment, the relief of him being alive suddenly exhausting her. Daryl wrapped his arms around her as if he could feel her exhaustion and he was willing to hold her up. 

"Who are all these people?" she finally asked as she straightened up and regained her footing. 

Putting a hand on the small of her back Daryl led her back around the ambulances where the new arrivals stood listening to George. Standing slightly behind them Beth was happy to see Roland clutched in his mother's arms while Oliver talked to her. Ducking his head to her ear Daryl began to whisper to her the story of what had happened in the hospital; from the trunk through the doors (she felt her hands clench momentarily in anger at that reckless move) to Molly and her crew helping them navigate the infested hospital to find far more than what they needed, to taking the ambulances and driving their way back across town in the dark with no headlights because it was too dangerous to wait out the night in the hospital and too chancy to risk lights. 

By the time he finished telling her what she assumed was a vastly condensed story George had finished telling the new arrivals how Winston ran and operated. He looked over his shoulder at where the two of them stood, Beth's shoulder pressing into Daryl's, and smiled. 

"We're going to house them in your building." he informed them in his calm voice. "Daryl, Beth, would you mind showing them the way?" 

Beth opened her mouth to agree but before she could say anything an atrociously dirty brown hair girl had turned to survey her with wide eyes. 

"Wait you're Beth?" she asked, disbelief clear in her voice. 

Casting a quick look over at Daryl, who merely shrugged, clearly as confused as she was, Beth nodded, clearing her throat. "Yes. Why?" 

The girl let out a laugh before shaking her head. "It's nothing. I can just honestly say that you are nothing like what I was expecting." 

Unsure of whether she was being complimented or insulted, or truthfully neither, Beth simply squeezed Daryl's hand before starting forward. "C'mon, we'll show you all to your new place now."


	9. Chapter 9

"See that right there?" Penny pressed her gloved finger to the grainy black and white screen as she moved the plastic oblong wand across Beth's lower stomach. "That's your baby's head." 

Daryl stared at the pixelated image with a frown. Honestly, to him, the picture on the screen looked about as much like a baby as a Chihuahua did a Pit-bull. If he squinted and turned his head to the side, he could just make out a fuzzy shape he supposed was their baby but still just looked like a blurry mess. He heard Beth intake a quick breath and he looked over at her where she lay out on the dentist office's newly acquired gurney, lifted from one of the ambulances. 

Beth tore her eyes away from the screen long enough to smile at him, reaching her hand over for his. He slipped her small palm into his own, squeezing tightly as Penny traced the outline on the screen of the still developing form of their baby. 

"Now we can't tell the sex this early of course. Get one last look Mommy and Daddy I have to turn this off now." Penny sat back and allowed the two of them a moment to savor their first look at their child. Beth squeezed his hand and Daryl returned the pressure. As Penny turned off the ultrasound machine Daryl turned to say something about the strangeness of babies but stopped when he saw the look on Beth's face. 

She had tears in her eyes and an expression of pure happiness coating her features. As if she could sense him looking at her, she turned from the darkened screen to smile at him sheepishly. 

"That was our baby." she whispered in awe to Daryl who gave her a small smile in response. 

He found himself wanting to turn the machine back on so that he could look at the image of their child with the same awed light Beth had, instead of marveling how it looked nothing like a real baby yet. But the machine was off and would remain off until their next visit, it was currently running off a small generator they had taken from the hospital and they needed to save all the gas they could for when Beth got farther along. 

Penny passed Beth a towel for her to wipe off the clear goo that she had smeared on her stomach before the ultrasound, Daryl supposed it was to help with the picture quality or something. Beth ran the rag over her still flat stomach before looking over at Daryl and making a face. 

"This stuff is so gross." she admitted with a giggle causing Penny to look over at her with a laugh. 

"It does take some getting used to." she admitted, smiling at them as Daryl took the rag from Beth's hands and began to wipe off the remaining goo. 

"Now." Penny clapped her hands together after throwing her latex gloves into the trash behind her. "The good news is that your baby looks perfectly healthy, if not a little bit malnourished. That is of course completely understandable given your circumstances." Penny smiled at Beth reassuringly as she pulled her shirt down and sat up, her legs dangling off the gurney as Daryl stood next to her. "Everything looks to be developing just right and I think if we start watching your nutrient intake both you and the baby will be just fine." 

Daryl felt his shoulders sag in relief and he heard Beth let out a small sigh. She looked up at him with a smile that he returned easily. Until that moment he had not realized how worried he was that something could be wrong with the baby. He had been focusing all his terrors on the birth and getting both of them through it alive that he had not even really paused to think about there being something wrong during the pregnancy. 

"Now judging by the size of the fetus I would say that you're actually about ten to eleven weeks along." Penny turned her back on them to shift through some of the other equipment that had been brought to her two days ago when the run group had returned. The former dentist office had transformed from an obvious makeshift doctor's office to actually looking like a small clinical hospital. Daryl had not been there when the equipment had been delivered to the office and to Penny but Luke had told him when they passed each other in the hallway that morning that Penny had cried upon receiving all of it. 

"In about two weeks you can come back and we'll be able to listen to your baby's heartbeat, check it for any irregularities." Penny turned back around and shoved her hands into her lab coat, also taken from the hospital. "I'm sure that there is nothing wrong with your child." she spoke reassuringly and Daryl wondered how much of his worries were evident on his features at the moment. "We would do it today but unfortunately the sound doesn't come out quiet as easily. Besides if we wait, I might be able to catch it on a stethoscope which will save us gas if we don't have to use the Doppler." 

"The what?" Beth asked as she ran her fingers lightly over her stomach. 

"The fetal heart monitor." Penny clapped her hands together again. "Now I truly hate to rush you two out but I do have other patients to see. That group you brought back from the hospital all need physicals. It's a good thing they'd had a nurse with them or most of them would not have made it this far." 

Daryl nodded and placed a hand on the small of Beth's back as she stood and began to walk towards the door. 

"Thank you so much doctor." she said as she walked past Penny who smiled at her comfortingly. 

"It was my pleasure Beth. Now, don't worry about anything. Baby and Mommy are doing just fine. No more skipping meals though." she waggled a finger in a mock threat in front of Beth's face. 

Beth blushed sheepishly before waving and heading out the door. They walked past some of the former hospital patients who called out hellos to them both. Daryl nodded his head as Beth waved. He felt a bit uncomfortable at the attention, they were all calling out hellos to him by name. It reminded him for a moment of how things had been in the prison, when things were still going well. 

As they stepped outside into the early evening light, he felt rather than saw Beth smiling at him. 

"What?" he asked in confusion, looking down at her as they headed down the street. 

"They love you." she laughed lightly at Daryl's look of confusion, and he was sure a little bit of horror. "What did you expect? You brought them all here. You saved their lives." 

Daryl was shaking his head before she even finished. That just wasn't true. The people in the hospital could have likely lived for another month if they had never found them. Besides, they had been put in more danger by Daryl and his group going to the hospital, in the run for the equipment one of the patients had nearly lost their life. In truth, Daryl still could not quite believe that they had lost not a single person on that run, especially considering Luke's plan of crashing through the doors. 

"I wasn't the only one to help them." Daryl finally muttered as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. The night air held a slight twinge of humidity to it and Daryl could tell that summer was approaching fast, and judging by the warmth of this past spring, it was going to be a hot one. He found he could no longer remember the feeling of air conditioning. 

Beth rolled her eyes at him with a smile. "I know that. So, do they." She stopped and he turned around to face her. "They just appreciate what you did for them." she whispered craning her neck back slightly to look him in the eye. "Just enjoy it." 

Daryl huffed a slight laugh. "I'll try." he placed his hand between her shoulder blades and led her down the street to their now full apartment building. "We need to get some dinner in you. You heard the doctor." 

"Yeah yeah." she grumbled but from the corner of his eye Daryl could see her smiling. 

In front of their building Roland was playing with the few kids that had been inside the hospital. He waved to them exuberantly, which Beth returned, Daryl simply nodded at the child before he darted away from them to rejoin his game. They passed a few people in the hallway on the way to their place and as they neared their door Daryl heard his name cried out in a familiar voice. 

"Hey Daryl, Beth!" Luke jogged down the hallway to them, letting the door to his place slam shut behind him. "How you two doing?" he looked at Daryl with a grin which got a twinge uneasy as he looked at Beth. While she had not said or done anything while Daryl had been in earshot Beth did admit to him yesterday that she had had quite the stern talking to with Luke about endangering people's lives for no reason. Daryl almost wished he could have seen it, judging by the fact that Luke was still uncomfortable around her told him that it had been quite the lecture. 

"I hope you two don't mind but I found something I thought you two might like when I was on the run today." he shoved his hands in his jean pockets and smiled sheepishly at them. "I had Jill help me put it in your place. The door was unlocked and we didn't know what else to do with it so..." he let his sentence trail off and shrugged at them. 

Daryl found he was more curious about what they had brought them than annoyed at them entering their apartment when they weren't there. Truthfully it still didn't really feel like theirs. They had no stuff of their own, not really. The place was still full of the previous owners' things, those that Winston had not already taken for their usefulness. Neither he nor Beth had bothered going through the previous tenants' possessions yet, not for lack of time to do so but because doing so would feel so final. Once they got rid of the old stuff their apartment would truly be theirs. Even after the week or so they had been safe in Winston Daryl was not yet ready to call it their home. For some reason it felt wrong to have a home after what happened to the prison and the farmhouse he and Beth had spent the winter. Though he would never admit it Daryl was afraid of how much it would hurt him if he lost another home this soon after the prison. It was better to just live in a stranger's house than to call it his own. 

"Thank you, Luke. What did you bring us?" Beth asked curiously, all signs of anger with Luke gone from her voice since she had exchanged words with him the day before. It seemed she had gotten it out of her system. Dimly, Daryl wondered if that was due to the pregnancy hormones or if it was just Beth being Beth. 

Luke grinned at them and shook his head. "I'll let you two see for yourselves." He gestured towards their door wildly before turning away from them and heading back to his own place, whistling under his breath as he went. 

Daryl looked at Beth and raised his eyebrows, curious as to what they could have possibly brought them that Winston did not already provide them with. Smiling at him Beth turned to the door and twisted the knob. 

"Ready?" she asked beaming over her shoulder at him. Daryl nodded and she held up three fingers. "One, two, three." she pushed the door open and they both stared inside at the room flooded with the light of the setting sun. 

"Oh." Beth whispered at the sight of the large box sitting in center of the front room. Daryl felt his back straighten at the sight of the picture of a large brown crib on the side of the box. Part of him felt grateful towards Luke and the others for bringing this for them, for thinking about them at all really. But a larger part of him felt that this crib being in their apartment meant much more than just their baby having a place to sleep. Making this crib would mean there was no going back. Building that crib would be a promise, to Beth and their child, hell even to him, that they were going to stay in Winston. 

That Winston was going to become home. 

"What language are these directions even in?" Daryl grumbled as he surveyed the white paper booklet spread out on the carpet before him. Beth shook her head as she grinned to herself at his actions. He had been trying to figure out the directions for the crib Luke had brought them a few days ago for over an hour. Rods and beams law scattered around him as he looked up at her in distaste. 

"Can't the baby just sleep in a drawer or something?" he asked as he threw his screwdriver down beside him and ran his hands through his outgrown hair. 

Beth let out a startled laugh. "Why? So, we can shut it in if it cries to much?" she joked as she pushed off of the kitchen counter to walk towards him. 

Daryl looked up at her in surprise as she approached. "What, no." he shook his head at the surprise in his own voice as he saw the grin on Beth's face and came to the realization that she was teasing him. 

Beth's smile grew wider as she carefully stepped over the various parts of the crib scattered before her and walked to where her husband sat dejectedly on the carpeted floor. "You know you don't have to build this today." she whispered as she sunk down to her knees in front of him, mindful not to crouch down on any of the beams. "The baby's not coming for a while." her hands fluttered at her stomach as they often did these days whenever she mentioned the baby. Ever since seeing the grainy ultrasound she could not quite get over the fact that there was a child inside of her. She had known of course, but knowing it and seeing it were two vastly different things. 

Daryl huffed a breath as he looked up at her. "I just want to do this now." he admitted with a shrug as he grabbed a few of the wooden beams and tried to make sense of how to attach them together. "I want the baby to know we're ready." 

Beth felt her heart warm at that. She sometimes wondered if Daryl was more afraid of them having a baby than he was anything else. "Hey." she whispered, putting her hands on Daryl's hands causing him to still and look back up at her. "I love you. The baby loves you. You don't need to worry about this now." she reached over and ran a hand down his face causing him to close his eyes momentarily as he leaned into her palm. 

"I guess." he swallowed as he opened his eyes again. "I guess I could take a short break." Beth grinned as he dropped the beams to the side and reached forward to wrap an arm around her waist, pulling her up onto his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he kissed her. The kiss started off slowly but as Daryl's hands went to the hem of her shirt it began to deepen. They broke apart long enough for them to rid each other of their shirts before Daryl pressed her to his bare chest, his hand flat against her back in such a reassuring hold that she smiled into his mouth. 

Raising to his knees Daryl kept a hold on Beth's legs wrapped around his waist as he turned and carefully pressed her down on a bare square of carpet surrounded by scattered crib parts. His fingers brushed the ticklish spot on her side on their path down to her jeans, causing her to squirm against him. She moved her own hands to his jeans, unbuttoning them quickly. There was a quiet struggle as they both tried to get the others jeans off at the same time. 

Beth giggled into his chest after they had managed to untangle their legs from the material and Daryl pulled away to stare down into her eyes. 

"What?" she asked, squirming uneasily under the heat of his gaze. 

"You're beautiful." Daryl whispered, staring down at her in awe as if he was just now realizing this. Beth smiled and put her hand around his neck to pull him down to kiss her. Their hands began to wander, mapping the now familiar territory of each other's skin, lost to everything but each other. 

"I love you." he whispered against her mouth as he slipped himself inside of her, causing her to gasp. As he moved inside of her, her breath became more and more erratic, matching the tempo of his. Crib parts rolled and struck each other as they moved on the floor. Beth dug the pads of her fingers into his shoulders as Daryl bent to kiss the conjunction of her neck and shoulder, a spot that always filled her veins with pleasure. All too soon they were coming apart in each other arms. Beth panted softly against his shoulder as Daryl rolled off of her to lay next to her amid the scattered pieces of wood. 

As Daryl ran a hand over her hair Beth twisted to lay her head against his chest. For a moment they laid in silence, both trying to recover their breath. 

"You know if we really want to be ready for the baby, we should start thinking about names." Beth said as she trailed her fingers in spiral patterns along Daryl's bare skin. 

Daryl let out a short huff of laughter. "I thought the baby wasn't coming for a while." he repeated her words back at her causing her to grin against his chest before she pushed up on her elbows to look down at him. 

"Oh hush." she bit her lip and looked away from him for a moment. "I just thought we might want to start thinking about it is all." Beth knew that they didn't need to have a baby name picked out for quite some time but she liked the idea of having a name to call their child, or at the very least an idea of what they might want to. 

"What about Little Ass Kicker 2.0?" Daryl asked, the faint smile on his lips slipping away the instant he caught sight of the stricken look that took over Beth's face. That was one of the first times either of them had mentioned Judith aloud except in the context of her birth and what it might mean for them. It was still too painful to truly talk about any of the people that they had lost but Judith was one of the worst. The others could all take care of themselves to some extent, but Judy? They had both failed her so they had to live with the faint hope that somebody else had managed to save her. 

"I'm sorry." Daryl whispered as he reached up to brush a tear Beth had not even felt fall from her eyes. 

She blinked and shook her head. "No, I'm sorry." she sniffled and wiped the last of the tears from her face. She did not want to think about the prison right now, the pain of it was still only just ebbing. Beth shoved the thoughts of her family and friends away for the moment and desperately reached for a subject change. Remembering something she pushed herself up higher onto her elbow as she managed to smile down at Daryl. "Did I tell you what I found yesterday?" she asked. As Daryl shook his head, she reached behind him to grab a piece of clothing off the floor, smiling as she realized it was his shirt. She pulled it over head quickly and rose to her feet, the shirt falling just the tops of her thighs. Carefully stepping around the wildly scattered crib pieces, their tumble on the floor seemed to have caused more to move then she had realized, Beth headed towards the hall closet. Standing on her toes she pulled down the cardboard box from the top self that she had found in her hunt for tools to build the crib with. 

As she turned around, she saw Daryl had gotten to his feet and pulled on his boxers, he motioned to the couch which she came around to join him on. 

"I was trying to find something to help build the crib with." she explained as she settled next to him and tucked her feet up underneath her. "Instead I found this." With far more care than was likely necessary she removed the lid from the box and set it down beside her. For a moment neither of them said anything, they simply stared down at the glossy contents. 

With trembling fingers Beth carefully removed the first photograph from the box. "I didn't really look at them yet." she admitted as they studied the small photo in her hands. In the picture a middle-aged couple stood arm in arm in front of the pyramids of Egypt, staring at the camera with wide smiles. 

Silently Beth and Daryl began to pull out the pictures and study them one by one. Exotic locations and far off places were the ever-changing background for the two people in the photographs. Soon the faces of their apartment's previous tenants became seared into her brain and Beth began to wonder what had happened to them. Whether they had even been in the states when everything went down or whether they had been out on some other adventure. Whether that would have even mattered. 

Beth stopped and stared down at the last picture in her hands. The couple, far younger than they had been in any of the other pictures, was leaning against each other and smiling up into each other's eyes in front of a beautiful serene beach, lit behind them with the light of the setting sun. 

"This is the oldest picture. I think they were on their honeymoon." Beth said with a smile as she flipped the photo over for an explanation. Written in a loopy cursive was _Fiji, 1997_."If we could have gone on a honeymoon where would you have wanted to go?" Beth asked as the thought suddenly occurred to her. She craned her neck up to look at Daryl who was still staring down at the photo in her hands. 

He shrugged. "Somewhere safe." he moved to wrap his arm around her waist and Beth leaned back so that she laying in his lap, her feet propped up on one end of the couch and her head on the other. Daryl ran his fingers lightly over her stomach causing her to shiver. "Somewhere with no walkers." 

Beth smiled and reached over to intertwine his hand with her own. "Me too." She rose his hand to her lips and pressed a kiss to his skin. "But if everywhere was safe. If we could go anywhere, anywhere at all. Where would you want to go?" Beth did not have enough hope that the world would be that safe again anytime soon, nor did she believe that if it was Daryl and her would go to some exotic location. She did not need a honeymoon or to see the beautiful places in the photographs, she was merely curious about where he would choose to go if he could go anywhere. For as much as she knew about Daryl, sometimes she felt she knew nothing at all. 

"I would go wherever you want to go." Daryl said with a shrug. Beth opened her mouth to protest, she wanted to know his choice not her own, when he continued. "I never thought I would even leave Georgia. Never thought about leaving the US." he stared down at their conjoined hands as he told her this. 

Beth felt a twinge of shame, she had known about how little Daryl had always had in his life. He had to learn to hunt because they couldn't always afford food. It seemed he hadn't been able to afford dreams as well. 

She sat up a little and wrapped her arms around him. "I never meant to make you uncomfortable." she whispered into his ear. Daryl shrugged and tightened his arms around her waist. He didn't respond to her 'I never' but she was not really surprised. Beth couldn't quite remember when they had stopped keeping score with their game. 

Daryl pressed a light kiss against the side of her head. "I would give you the world Beth Dixon." he whispered, voice barely audible, into her hair. 

A small smile formed on Beth's lips as she turned to rest her forehead against his. "Oh Daryl." Beth grabbed his hands and pulled them down to press against her stomach. "You already have." 

The sun was shining with the bright promise of another sweltering day as Beth and Daryl headed out into the early morning light to walk towards their respective jobs. It seemed as though summer was finally in full swing and summers in North Carolina seemed to be no less hot than summers in Georgia. 

"Damn Beth. You eat a really big breakfast or is that baby finally making an appearance?" Molly called out as she jogged lightly towards them and fell into step besides the couple. 

Beth grinned at her as she put her hands on her stomach. Daryl was grateful Molly had been the one to broach the subject, he had noticed that Beth's stomach was finally beginning to round out but he had not wanted to be the first person to inform her of such. One thing Merle had taught him was how little women liked to be told about their weight. 

"I'm around fifteen weeks now." she told Molly who nodded thoughtfully. 

"In that case it's about time that bump showed up." They turned and walked past the doctor's office, Molly waving them good-bye as she darted up the steps. Daryl and Beth walked in a comfortable silence until they reached the school. 

"See you tonight." Beth said with a smile as she leaned up to quickly kiss Daryl's cheek. Daryl nodded good-bye as he swung his crossbow over his shoulder and continued the last block to the section of the fence where he spent his days standing guard. Quickly he scaled the RV that the west wall used as a look out post, clapping Evan on the shoulder to relieve him of his duty. 

"Didn't see a damn thing all night man." Evan said with a smile as he stretched his wiry arms up over his head. "You're in for a boring one." 

Evan waved Daryl good-bye as he scaled down the RV ladder, hitting the floor at a jog, clearly desperate to catch every second of sleep he could before he replaced Daryl again that night in their never ceasing guard rotation. 

After making sure his crossbow was loaded, a futile gesture mostly done to give his hands something to do as the crossbow was always loaded, Daryl settled in to wait out his long shift on guard duty. It did not take him long to realize that Evan was right, he was in for a fairly boring day. Nothing stirred on the road before him, just empty houses staring back at him with windows that looked like vacant eyes. 

After an hour the crossbow was resting across Daryl's lap as he sat in the faded lawn chair that rested on top of the RV. His fingers drummed against the hot metal surface of the bow as he scanned the still empty area before him. The street remained barren and he sighed at the lack of action he was receiving these days. It had been a few days since any walker had managed to stumble close enough to one of his gates to gather a cross bolt. Since he usually spent his evenings shaping discarded branches into arrows Daryl now had an extreme surplus of bolts, most of which resided in the quiver Beth made him strapped across his shoulder. 

No matter how much time had passed without a disturbance the quiet was still unnerving to him. The last month in Winston had caused him to be far more at ease than he had ever would have thought possible, especially given his history with living places. He had never felt truly comfortable at the Greene farmhouse, mostly because he had never expected that they would get to stay there but also because every time he thought back on that time he remembered who he had let the world make him become and he could feel the blood on his knuckles from the time he had beat Randal senseless. The memories of Sophia and the barn, of Dale, also cloaked the place so even if Daryl had ever felt at ease there, he could no longer remember it. Before the world as it had been ended, Daryl had simply roamed from place to place. In a strange way Merle's pickup was almost like a home but that was long gone as well. No, the prison was the first home he had truly ever had and it had been ripped from his fingers along with countless people that he had actually loved. Daryl had not wanted for Winston to feel like a place he could call home but as time passed and no one came blazing up to their fences with guns or tanks Daryl began to relax and wonder if they really might have found a safe place to be. 

Beth and him finally got the crib together and began packing up some of the old tenants' things. Beth had placed one of their pictures on the unusable fridge, Daryl said nothing about the sentiment but every time he saw their smiling faces, he felt a twinge of guilt. No matter how many days passed he still felt like they were simply house sitting for the prior couple, as though they were just watching the place to make sure that no ill befell it. 

They spent their days working and their nights sharing meals with the other people that lived in their building. Every week Penny made Beth come in to see her so that she could check what she could. She didn't turn the equipment on again, it was a waste to use the generator unless it appeared there was something wrong. She promised them another ultrasound when Beth hit the six-month mark but until then she simply checked Beth's blood pressure and other vitals and made sure she was feeling alright and eating well. Penny claimed that if there was anything wrong with the baby, they would know it as Beth would be sick as well but Daryl still felt nauseous with fear every time he went with Beth to see the doctor. He was always so sure she would inform them of some devastating news about the baby. Molly had joined Penny in working in the medical building and she often sat in on Beth's appointments. She claimed it was to help Penny if she needed anything, but Daryl thought she was simply excited that there was going to be a baby in the camp and she wanted to do what she could to make sure the baby was okay when it arrived. Daryl didn’t mind; Molly was a nurse and he wanted Beth to get as much help as she could get. 

The day passed slowly and by the end of it Daryl had seen only two walkers, neither of which came close enough to warrant losing an arrow over. One had stumbled into a red house at the street corner and Daryl made a mental note to tell Evan about it when he came up to relieve him. The sound of a car's engine filled his ears and Daryl stood up to cast a better look at his street. It was still empty but Daryl heard the faint sound of a gate opening and people calling out to each other signaling that yet again the run team had arrived safely home for the day. 

Sometimes Daryl envied the run team. He wanted to get out and do something useful. When they had lived at the prison he had gone past the fences nearly every day, to hunt or to gather supplies. He often felt like a waste with just sitting around and not actually doing anything day after day. He knew why he wasn't on the run team of course. It was not that George did not trust him to bring all the supplies to him or to come back safe and protect his teammates, George just didn't want to put Daryl's pregnant wife through that much anxiety and worry. In truth, Daryl was grateful for that, and he knew Beth was as well. By putting him on guard duty George had saved Beth and Daryl from the inevitable fight they would have had about him going out and risking his life every day on the slim chance that he might find something valuable or at least useful, especially when other groups could be out there doing the same thing. Groups that one did not want to run into. Beth and Daryl knew better than anybody that the walking dead were not the most dangerous creatures out there. 

"Anything man?" Evan's voice broke Daryl out of his reverie and he shook his head as he glanced over to see the young boy scaling the RV's ladder. Having Evan as his gate partner did nothing to making Daryl feel more useful to the community. At only fifteen he was the youngest guard they had and George still had him on the night shift. Daryl didn't question the kid's ability; Carl was every indication that someone's age didn't mean shit anymore. Evan was a hell of a sharp shooter anyway, even in the dark he hit the mark with his rifle every single time. 

"Walker in that red house there." Daryl pointed it out and Evan nodded, his lips pursed in thought. "You're early." he informed him, his brow scrunching up as the kid shrugged. 

"Got nothing better to do." Evan turned to grin at him suddenly. "You and Beth find any books in your place? I read all the good ones in ours." he asked hopefully causing Daryl to pause and think over the books they had in their apartment as he hooked his fingers in his belt loops and looked out over the street again. 

He had just opened his mouth to answer Evan when a rustle of movement at the end of the street caught his eye. Shuffling along slowly into his view was a walker, which even from the distance Daryl could see was missing an arm and was badly mutilated. Daryl held up a finger to notify Evan who nodded and rose his rifle to catch the figure in his sights. 

"Don't." Daryl whispered softly so as to not draw the attention of the corpse. "It's heading straight, it'll go right past us. Don't waste the bullet." 

Before he had even finished speaking another walker passed by the red house on the corner following closely after the armless one in front. He heard Evan whisper something under his breath but Daryl held up his hand again to tell him to shut up. Three more walkers had just come into sight which caused Daryl to reach over and grab Evan's sleeve, pulling him down to lay on his stomach next to Daryl on the top of the RV. 

"What the hell dude?" the kid grumbled; his voice clearly annoyed by Daryl's manhandling of him. 

"Shut up." Daryl hissed as he adjusted his crossbow in his hands. He was hoping that was going to be the end of the walkers in this group, that no more were going to follow the first ones but he did not dare to get his hopes up. As he heard Evan curse he knew he had been right not to. The end of the street before them, the one that had been empty only minutes ago, was now beginning to fill as a crowd of corpses began to shamble along like a morbid and terrifying game of follow the leader. 

Daryl swore under his breath and turned towards Evan who was staring at the herd with eyes so wide in fear Daryl could see the whites around them. His grip of his rifle was white knuckled and Daryl truly did not think that kid was breathing. Reaching up Daryl gripped his shoulder tightly. 

"They'll walk right past us if we don't draw attention to ourselves." Daryl whispered quickly as he turned his eyes back to the herd to make sure that none of them had heard his voice. If so much as one walker defected from the herd and came to their fences they would be screwed as others in the herd would blindly follow after them instead of the first one. These fences were too weak to withstand that kind of force nor were the buildings enough to protect them from a herd this size if they did get in. If so much as one walker decided it would rather attack their fences then keep moving forward the entire town would be fucked. The background noise of the people behind him talking to each other as they began to make their way home or to night shifts had never sounded so loud to Daryl as it did at that moment. He supposed that only the sound the herd itself was making was drowning their noise out to the mass of walkers before them. 

"You need to go down and quietly tell everyone to _shut up_ and get inside as fast as they can. Tell them to arm themselves just in case." Daryl whispered fervently as the herd kept shambling past them endlessly. In all the things he had seen Daryl truly did not think he had ever seen so many walkers in one place before. Not on the highway where they lost Sophia, not when the Greene farm was taken, not even when the car was overrun on the way to the vet hospital. If this herd turned their direction it would swallow their little town whole. 

"Evan _go_." Daryl hissed as he turned to face the kid next to him. His heart jumped into his throat as he saw that Evan had risen to his knees and moved his shaking finger to the trigger of his rifle, lining up his sights on the horde. Daryl began to reach for the boy to stop him, his name rushing to his lips but before he could barely even move Evan squeezed the trigger, his eyes closing shut in fear even as he took his shot. 

At the end of the street the bullet met its target and the head of a walker exploded, scattering bits of brain and blood everywhere as its now unanimated body fell to the broken asphalt. The body had barely hit the floor when the creatures around it turned as one to the noise of the gun and the barely protected town of Winston.


	10. Chapter 10

"C'mon Ro'." Beth called to the small child hunched over the table, a green crayon gripped tightly in his hand. She finished pulling on the large flannel shirt she had taken to wearing home at nights, even though the air outside was still heavy with the thick humidity of summer she was always cold out there. She figured it was simply due to the pregnancy but since she'd rather have cold flashes than hot flashes she didn't complain. 

"Oliver is going to think we forgot about him." Beth joked as she knelt down next to the child sized table. The classroom was empty except for the two of them as everyone else had already begun to make their ways home to the call of dinner. Roland had asked her if he could stay a few minutes longer so that he could finish up his picture. Beth had meandered around the classroom for the past few minutes cleaning up messes that weren't really there, singing softly under her breath. 

"I'm almost done." Roland told her as he leaned forward to protect his drawing from her eyes, scribbling furiously. Beth sat back on her heels and watched as he stuck his tongue lightly through his lips as he placed the crayon down on the table next to him. "There." He smiled down at his work before giving her a sheepish grin and sliding the paper down the table to her. "It's for you." 

Beth's heart swelled with love for the child as she picked up the white piece of construction paper and surveyed it. Standing on a brilliantly green lawn in front of a small white house were six people. Despite the stick figure looks and mismatched proportions of the figures Beth could easily tell who they were supposed to be due to the coloring and the few accessories Roland had drawn on them. The one who was supposed to be Sarah had the bright red hair and was holding the small figure of Roland himself. Luke stood close by and Beth supposed that the crisscross pattern on his 'shirt' was meant to mimic the plaid shirts he was so overtly fond of. Oliver was on their other side cane in hand. And next to him were two stick people holding hands, one with a long yellow braid in their hair and the other holding what was clearly meant to be a crossbow. 

Raising her hand to her chest Beth smiled at the picture then leaned over to pull Roland into a hug. "Thank you." she whispered feeling his small arms go around her neck. "I love it." She pulled away from him and stood, reaching a hand down for him to take and join her. "C'mon, you can help us pick a spot on the fridge to hang it up." Roland smiled up at her proudly, running to drop off his crayons before coming back to her. His small hand in hers they left the quiet of the classroom and headed outside when the sounds of terror began to fill their ears. 

At the first sound of the screams Beth reeled back from the noise, bending down to pull Roland up into her arms. She cast a look around but could not see any sign for the noise on their entirely empty street. She paused in confusion that quickly turned to fear as she realized that the guards were no longer standing on their post at the southeast corner of the fences. Something had gone terribly wrong. 

Just as she had come to this realization a hand seized her by the elbow and she swallowed a scream as she wrenched her arm free, stumbling down a few of the steps. 

"Beth!" a familiar voice cried in worry as the hand reached for her again and helped to steady her. She looked up and sighed in relief at the sight of Oliver's familiar face. Her relief died immediately when she saw the terrified look in his eyes and the blood that was coating the bottom six inches of his cane. 

"The fences?" she managed to choke out in fear. 

"The whole west one is down." Oliver met her eyes and shook his head as she tried desperately to remember how to breath. 

That was Daryl's fence. 

"Is he-" Oliver cut her question off with a quick shake of his head. 

"I didn't see him." he reached up and place a hand on her back to force her to begin to walk in the direction of the fence only fifteen feet away from them. "You have to go." he told her with an edge of finality as Roland began to shake in her arms, whether from fear or sobs Beth was not sure. 

"Go?" Beth asked as she came to a halt, the word feeling foreign in her mouth. "We can't _go_." 

"You have to." Oliver hissed before grabbing her arms and turning her to face him. She felt Roland's tears begin to hit her neck as he buried his face in her collar. "I've never seen anything like this Beth." he told her; his eyes wide with fear. 

"But Daryl and everyone else." Beth shook her head, refusal making her straighten her spine. "I'm not leaving here without them." 

"Beth!" Oliver's grip tightened more than she would have thought possible for someone his age. "The whole side of the fence is _down_. There is a horde of walkers larger than the swarm we saw leaving Richmond in here. People are already dying! You have to leave before it's too late." his words caused Beth to suck in her breath as her mind was pulled to memory of the horde that had taken over her family's farm and the day she and Daryl had fled the prison, leaving their family behind. She knew that she could not fight a horde, that the town could not fight a horde. If it was truly as large as Oliver claimed than even trying to hide out in the buildings would be futile, the horde would simply rip them apart. 

Beth shook her head again, her resolve straightened by the knowledge that if she left now, she might not see her husband or any of their friends ever again. They hadn't found anyone from the prison so why would this time be any different? No, she had to leave with Daryl or not at all. 

"I won't leave without him." she whispered and as her arms tightened around Roland she amended her sentence. "Without any of them." she did not have to clarify who she meant as Oliver's eyes softened. 

He sighed as he let go of her arms. "I didn't see anyone." he whispered, fear making his voice waver. "Beth." he shook his head. "I'll find them okay? I will go find them and tell them what wall you went over. Leave marks in the trees or something to leave them a trail and just go find somewhere for the two of you to be safe until then." 

Beth shook her head, first in refusal and then in confusion. "You're not coming with us?" she asked as her eyes were suddenly drawn to Oliver's arm where his sleeve had been pushed up in their small struggle. "Oliver you're bleeding." she whispered as their situation began to sink in and true terror began to fill her at the sight of his arm. 

Oliver reached over to begin to tug on her arm again and this time she did not protest as he began to lead her to the fence. She followed him in shock, her feet stumbling over each other as she stared at the bite on his forearm. "There's no time Beth." he whispered to her as they finally reached the inner wall, she leaned against it heavily in shock, shaking her head in denial at what they were facing. This was all happening so fast. "I will find them for you." he whispered as he clutched her numb hand. "You just worry about keeping the three of you safe and leaving them a trail to find." 

"Daryl can track." Beth informed him through numb lips, unsure if she was trying to reassure him or herself with this knowledge. 

Oliver chuckled. "Why am I not surprised? Do you have a weapon on you?" he asked hopefully. 

Beth nodded as she cast desperate looks around her for a sign of anyone else but it seemed as though their corner of the town was still untouched by both the living and the dead. "I have a knife." Only because of Daryl's precautionary measures, she vowed to thank him for once again saving her life the next time she saw him. She then promised to herself that she would see him again, and soon. 

"Good that's good." Oliver looked up and down the length of the fence. "This is as good a spot as any. The gates are still locked." 

Beth just looked at him, still in too much shock at what was happening to understand what he meant. Even though she knew it was akin to suicide all she wanted to do was run through the streets until she found Daryl. 

"Beth you need to do this now." Oliver whispered to her calmly as he began to kneel on the ground, cupping his hands together. 

Beth finally realized what he wanted her to do and she almost laughed at their situation as she shook her head. "It's too tall." she said looking up at the top of the wooden wall, which looked to be about eight feet high. "We'll never get up there." 

Oliver suddenly stood up, faster than she had ever seen him move and gripped her arms tightly causing her to look at him in astonishment. 

"Beth Dixon I am going to die." Oliver whispered to her furiously as Roland sobbed louder into her arms at the words. Oliver's eyes flashed to the boy in sadness but he pushed it down and continued, staring back at her intensely "I am an old man and I always knew that I would never live to see the end of this mess. Today is as good a day as any for me. _But not for you three_." Oliver shook his head, moving one of his hands to rest it on Roland's back as tears began to fill his own eyes. "I will get the three of you over that wall at whatever cost. The exterior fence is chain link, that one you can do yourself." 

Beth began to open her mouth, to argue or to agree with his stupid plan she wasn't exactly sure but Oliver held up a finger to hold her off. 

"If the last thing I do is get two people I love, and one I'm sure I would have, out of here alive then I will die a happy man. Now stop arguing with me, have Roland hold onto your back, and help me get all of you over this damn fence." Oliver's eyes flashed dangerously at her and Beth knew it was pointless to argue, nor did she have a better plan. Daryl and her could find each other out in the woods, she knew they could. He was there with her when the prison fell, he knew she would look for him and she knew he would track her. 

Standing up straighter Beth pried Roland's arms from around her neck. "You heard him Ro'." she whispered as she saw Oliver breathe a sigh in relief at her submission to his half-brained plan. 

"Wait!" Roland cried as he twisted in her arms and reach for his great godfather who reached for him in that same instant. Oliver crushed the little boy to his chest tightly and Beth looked away to scan their thankfully still empty bit of street trying to give the two of them any privacy that she could. However, she could not block their words from reaching her ears. 

"I love you my sweet wild boy." Oliver's voice was thick with tears as Roland whispered the words back to him. "I will find your mother and send her after you, I promise. But just in case." he paused and took a deep breath. "Just in case, when you see her next remind her of how much I love her. Tell her she was a daughter to me. I could not have asked for a better family." 

There was a quiet second of sniffling and Beth spotted a walker turn a corner and begin to shuffle down the street their way. "Oliver." she whispered in warning; her own voice now thick with tears. 

"I see it." she did not have to look at him to know that he was crying. "You be good for Beth you hear me?" Beth turned in time to see Roland nodding frantically. Beth rolled up the drawing he had given her only minutes before and shoved it into her back pocket as she turned around and Oliver helped Roland get a good hold on her back. 

Oliver cupped his hands before him and looked up at Beth who nodded solemnly. "Thank you." she whispered quietly. "For everything." 

Oliver smiled at her sweetly. "You take care of them dear." he whispered as she placed one hand on his frail shoulder and the other on the thin wood of the wall to help her make their way over. "All of them." 

"I promise." Beth had just enough time to whisper before she jumped up and Oliver thrust her foot up with more strength than she would have thought possible. Scrambling she managed to get both her hands on the top of the wall and she kicked her feet to gain purchase as Roland's grip tightened against her neck. She felt Oliver grip the bottom of her boots and push up and she managed to get one of her legs over the wall. She felt the picture fall out of her pocket as she made the ascent. For a moment she lay on her stomach across the top of the fence, Roland's sobs fresh in her ear, and looked down at Oliver who had caught the picture and unrolled it. 

For a moment Oliver simply stared down at the crayon depiction of his family before he looked up at Beth with fresh tears in his eyes. "I'll find them Beth. I promise." 

It was chaos, pure chaos. The sounds of screams filled Daryl's ears as he slammed his crossbow into the side of a walker's head. His quiver lay trampled several feet behind them and he was down to his last arrow that he was saving for when he would really need it. Daryl held his crossbow in one hand and a fistful of Evan's shirt in the other as he dragged him along after him down the overrun streets. 

The second after Evan had fired his shot his skin had turned green as he realized what he had done. His hands shook in terror on the metal of his rifle as he stared open mouthed in horror at the swarm turning in their direction. Daryl had grabbed his arm and pulled him upright as he adjusted his crossbow to aim at the horde. 

"Fire every fucking shot you have." Daryl had barked at the boy as he began to let crossbolts fly into the crowd. He knew that they would not even make a dent in this swarm but every walker they killed now was one less than would come inside. 

That time Evan had followed his orders and every bullet he fired made its mark. By the time they were both empty the walkers were already trampling over the chain link fence and making their way to the wall that the RV was parked behind. Daryl had shoved Evan towards the ladder and scrambled down after him knowing that there was nothing else they could do from up there. Besides, he needed to find Beth. They were beginning to run towards the people who were rushing towards them, drawn like walkers to the noise of gunfire, when the fence went down with a crash behind them. 

After that it was just a blur of madness. 

Daryl had taken out what walkers he could as he made his way towards the apartments but there was still just an unending wave of the dead coming after them. He heard screams of pain get cut off and it was not lost to him what that meant. Daryl knew he should kelp the others but he could not see anybody but walkers and Evan, so he simply dragged him after him on his way to their building hoping that Beth managed to have gotten there before the wall went down. 

His foot was just on the bottom stair up to building's front doors when they banged open with a crash and Luke and Sarah fell out of them, both breathing hard and Sarah's eyes wild with panic. 

"Where's Beth?" Sarah cried the moment she laid eyes on him. "Is Roland with her? Where's Oliver?!" Daryl felt his chest freeze over at the knowledge that Beth wasn't in the building. He forced himself to remain calm and reminded himself that she might still be at the school. Just because she was not here did not mean that he needed to assume the worst. Daryl simply nodded for the pair to follow him as he took off at a run down the streets. 

Though it was only a few streets to the school from their apartment building Daryl felt like it was the longest run of his entire life. They were now ahead of the majority of the horde although some walkers had split off to the sides of the fences when they entered, unlike the main horde who had kept going at a relatively straight line. The streets were nearly clear now and since they no longer had to stop to clear a path for themselves, they managed to get to the school in mere minutes. 

Daryl burst through the back door of the building, ignoring the sound of the door knob implanting itself in the wall as he dashed into the room. Chairs still sat upright in front of small child sized tables and not a single thing looked out of place. Daryl sighed in relief that no walkers had managed to get inside the building but the relief was short lived when he realized that Beth and Roland were not in the vicinity. 

If she wasn't in the school or in the apartment than Daryl had no idea where she would have gone or how he was supposed to find her. Memories of the final attack on the prison began to assault him as well as what happened after. He could feel the pressure of the days he and Beth had looked for others only to come up empty handed resting on his shoulders. 

He felt someone grab his arm, jostling him back to the present. Daryl looked over to see Luke staring at him intensely. 

"We're gonna check outside again. C'mon." 

The four of them took off out of the building at a sprint that was quickly slowed as they realized that they did not know which direction they should be running in. For a moment they simply stood still on the front steps of the building until Evan pointed to something by the fence with a cry. "Over there!" Daryl followed the line of his finger and flinched at the gruesome sight. Sarah let out a wail next to him and pushed past him roughly on her way down the steps Daryl, Evan and Luke following at her heels. 

She fell to her knees next to the bloody body of her godfather, a dead walker laying still on his other side with Oliver’s cane embedded deep within its skull. There was blood coating his shirt and Daryl could see a bite on his forearm that went with the one on his neck. Sarah leaned over him for a moment, her hands flapping in the air as if unsure of what to do. Finally she reached down and clutched his shoulder, gasping when his eyes fluttered open. While they were hazy with pain they were not yet the dead colored eyes of a walker. 

"Oliver!" Sarah cried as she collapsed against his chest. He made a gasping, choking sound that was wet with the blood of his crushed throat. Luke went to stand behind Sarah, his hands tight on her shoulders. 

"He's trying to say something." Evan whispered, so quiet that Daryl almost thought he had misheard him. But Sarah was gripping Oliver's hands in hers now as she knelt over him, the tears falling off of her face to land on his own. 

"Don't try to talk." she told him as she looked desperately up at the men surrounding her. "Where's Penny? Go find her!" her eyes were wild as she looked at them, pleading for something she knew was futile. 

"There's nothing anyone can do now." Luke told her gently as she batted his hands away from her shoulders in anger. 

His hand now free Oliver pulled a crushed piece of paper out of his pocket. Sarah turned to look at him quickly at the movement and Daryl edged a step closer as he saw Oliver point to something on the picture. 

Walking around to stand behind his head Daryl saw Oliver put his hand on two tiny stick figures. It took Daryl a moment to realize who the picture was meant to be and then another for him to realize what Oliver was trying to tell them. His fingers left bloody fingerprints on the stick figure representations of Roland and Beth as he moved his hand to point behind him. 

Daryl turned and surveyed the area behind him. All that was left was the fence. 

"Beth and Roland went over the fence." he whispered to himself turning back to the others in time to see Oliver nodding, causing blood to gush out of the wound on his neck. 

Sarah let out a cry as she put her hands on his throat, "Stop moving!" she cried as she struggled in vain to stop the flow of blood seeping from the bite. From this angle Daryl could tell that the wound was not that deep, it would still take another few minutes for Oliver to die from blood loss and that was only if the crushed windpipe didn't kill him first. But nothing that they did would be able to save him, even if the wound hadn't been from a bite. 

"Sarah, we have to go." Luke whispered as he stared down at Oliver, tears welling up in his own eyes. Unable to bear their pain Daryl looked away from them and studied the fence behind him. At eight feet high he had no idea how Beth managed to get over it with a child. With two children technically, he reminded himself. His fingers itched to climb over the wall himself, the longer they stood here, no matter what the reason, the farther away Beth and Roland got. While it was good that they put a distance between themselves and the danger Daryl did not want for them to put that much distance between themselves and him. 

"I'm not leaving him!" Sarah cried. Daryl looked over his shoulder in time to see her glare up at Luke, strands of her red hair sticking to the blood on her face. She looked back down at Oliver with a look of pure heartbreak coating her features. "We can't just leave him like this." she whispered, her voice breaking as tears began to streak trails in the blood on her face. 

Evan had looked away from the trio on the ground and Daryl could see the guilt plainly on his face. While Daryl wished he could comfort the kid he knew that nothing he could say would be true. If he told him this was not his fault, they would both know he was lying. Evan fired that shot and no matter how scared he had been when he did so it did not change the fact that anyone who died today would do so because of his actions. Maybe the herd would have turned towards them anyway but the fact was, he had fired first. Daryl could see that realization on his face plain as day as he turned his gaze back towards Oliver and Sarah. 

"I don't have a gun." Daryl told them, his voice emotionless as he pushed all of his sorrow, pain and fear down. The only thing he could afford to do right now was focus on finding Beth, everything else was just something to be dealt with later. He held his crossbow up so that it was in Oliver's line of sight, his one remaining bolt already loaded. "This is all I can do." 

Oliver realized what he meant quicker than Sarah did because he was done nodding when Sarah began her protests. 

"You can't just shoot him!" she cried as Luke grabbed her arms and began to pull her away. Daryl lowered his bow to catch Oliver's head within its sights. The old man closed his eyes softly, as though he were going to sleep. Daryl found himself wishing that someone else had stepped up to do this. Putting down someone you knew, someone you loved, never got any easier. "Oliver!" Sarah cried as she struggled against Luke's arms. "Ollie I love you!" 

"Don't let her watch." Daryl choked out as his throat threatened to close with tears. He shook the emotion off and whispered softly to Oliver words that he had said once before. "Sorry brother." 

The bolt made a sickening noise as it embedded itself inside of Oliver's skull. Sarah let out another cry at the sound and Daryl motioned for Luke to keep her facing away. Sick with himself for what he had to do Daryl leaned down and put a hand softly against the side of Oliver's head as he tugged the bolt out of his skull softly. He shook off the brain and blood sticking to it and reloaded it into his crossbolt. 

Straightening he saw the horrified look Evan was giving him and spit out. "It's the only one I've got." 

Daryl swung the crossbow over his back and looked at the wall again, purposely avoiding looking at the corpse behind him. "We've got to go over it here. I can track them on the other side." 

"How will we get over?" Luke asked as he let go of Sarah who went to stand next to the fence resolutely, her gaze never wavering to look behind her. 

"I'll help you over and then you guys pull me up." Evan said as he quickly walked over to join them. "But we have to do it fast. We've got company." Daryl cast a quick look down the street and saw that all their noise had indeed drawn several walkers towards them. 

"C'mon." Daryl pulled Evan closer to the fence and together they helped Luke get up onto the top of the fence. With his help from above they managed to get Sarah up and over, her eyes still glassy and unfocused with shock. 

"You next." Daryl told Evan as he made a cup with his hands. 

Evan shook his head quickly in refusal. "I'm lighter. I'll be easier to lift up." 

The walkers were nearly on top of them so Daryl forced himself not to argue and let Evan and Luke help him get to the top of the fence. Luke and him leaned down so that Evan could jump up and reach their hands but the kid simply stared up at the two of them with pain and guilt heavy in his eyes. Too late Daryl realized what he was planning to do. 

"I'm sorry." he whispered as he thrust the strap of his rifle up at Luke, who caught it out of reflex. 

"Evan!" Daryl cried out in anger but before he could say anything else the kid turned away from them and ran at the small pack of walkers only feet away. 

Luke and Daryl jumped down from the fence quickly to avoid the sight of them ripping him apart. Sarah did not need to ask them what had happened as Evan's screams began to fill the air. As one they clambered up and over the chain link fence and stood in the beginning of the woods surrounding Winston. Luke and Sarah scanned the area, Sarah trying to discreetly wipe the tears from her eyes, as Daryl's eyes scoured the forest floor. 

He felt a surge of relief as a familiar boot print caught his eye and he knelt down to point it out to the others. "There." 

Beth honestly did not know what was louder, Roland's soft sobs against her shoulder or the sound of her own heartbeat pounding in her ears. Her arms were numb with the weight of carrying him and each step was beginning to feel like too much effort. Every time she moved forward all she could think about was the distance that she was putting between herself and Daryl, and Roland and his mother. Seeing a sizable tree before her Beth carefully checked around them before setting Roland down on the torn-up ground near the tree roots. 

Carefully she held the tattered end of her shirt out and used her knife to cut off a strip of the fabric. Quickly she knotted it onto a tree branch a few inches taller than her, one that she thought would be close to Daryl's eye level. The feeling beginning to return to her arms she carefully carved an arrow into the trunk of the tree in the direction she was going to be turning them in. 

They had already been walking for a few hours. Beth had waited until she could no longer hear sounds from Winston to turn them, they had continued out in a straight line from the fence for as long as she could stand. Then she had turned them to the west, assuming that if the walkers had gone in through that side of the fence than they had already continued on towards the other directions. 

Every so often she turned them in a different direction or forced herself to walk straight out from the direction she assumed the fence was in. Beth knew that putting distance between them and the herd was just as important to trying to find others but it did not make it any easier to do so. So far, they had not seen any signs of other survivors. 

Beth found herself continuously praying that this was not going to meet the same end she had had when she and Daryl fled the ruins of the prison. She did not think that she could go on without anybody else. And if she was being completely honest with herself, she just needed to know that people could still find each other in this world. 

That was why she was taking the time to tie off pieces of her shirt and mark the direction they were turning in. Daryl was an excellent tracker but Beth felt that she had to give him something extra to go on. She did not want him to spiral down into the depression he had fallen into after the prison. Hopefully the scrapes of her shirt would not just help him to find her but also help give him the faith to keep going. 

The arrow carefully carved Beth scooped Roland up into her arms again, muttering soft words of comfort into his ear. She did not have the heart to tell him to stop crying but she kept trying to get his sobs under control. She only had one small knife; they could not afford any extra noise. 

For his part Roland did try to stop crying countless times. But he was a child who had just lost the man who was basically his grandfather, had no idea where his mother was and was now lost in the woods with a person who he probably didn't think was the best protector. Beth honestly did not expect him to stop crying any time soon. 

They continued on for a few more minutes until Beth's arms began to shake with the weight of him. Seeing a small clearing that was protected on two sides by close growing trees Beth made her way over to it. It seemed all the walkers in the woods had been drawn to the gunfire and screams at Winston for she had only seen a few since they escaped and they had been continuing forward with the single mindedness of a walker set on a noise. 

Slowly Beth eased Roland to the ground and walked around the edge of the clearing to peer into the foliage and try to see if there was anything that might stumble upon them. Seeing nothing at the moment she eased herself down next to the child who immediately turned and buried his head against her. Wrapping one tired arm around him Beth ran her fingers over her stomach and the light bump there, silently telling them both to just hold on, that everything was going to be okay. 

For a while they just sat in silence, Beth keeping one hand tight on the hilt of her knife, until she realized that Roland was being a bit too quiet. Carefully she peered down at him and realized that the day's events had finally worn him out and he had fallen asleep against her. Beth let her own head fall back against the tree trunk as she scanned the still empty area before her. Silently she began to beg Daryl to find them. She could not even bear to think about the possibility that he might have gone down when his side of the fence did. 

Running her hands through Roland's tangled hair Beth forced herself to imagine the possibility that no one might find them and that they might not find anyone else either. Her heart began to beat faster at the mere thought of it. 

Sure, she could manage taking care of Roland out here for a few days but after that she would have to find them somewhere safe to hunker down. Somewhere that was safe from not just walkers but other people as well. A child and a young woman would be easy targets for anyone who decided that they wanted what she had. Add in the fact that she was pregnant and they might as well just wear a sign proclaiming them as incredibly vulnerable. 

Thinking of the pregnancy made her even more terrified. If no one else found them she would likely have to give birth by herself with no form of assistance except from a child who was barely out of his toddler stage. Beth could feel herself breathing faster and she forced herself to calm down by calmly breathing in and out of her nose, for eight counts a breath. It was a trick Shawn had taught her as a child because when she started crying, she often could not stop which would only upset her more. 

Her breathing finally under control Beth ran her fingers through her hair, pushing the strands that had fallen out of her ponytail back off of her face. Looking down at Roland's sleeping form she tried to decided what would be the best course of action for them. They could not stay in the clearing much longer; it was only a matter of time before more walkers stumbled upon them. Nor could they turn around and go back towards the remains of Winston for the same reason. She had never been in these woods before, when they had approached the town the first time this was not the side they had come through, and she had not left the fences since their arrival. Beth was pregnant in uncharted territory with a child to look after and no supplies. She could feel her breath shortening and forced herself to begin to count her breaths again. 

The sound of a branch snapping pulled her mind back to the present. Her breath escaped her with a gasp and carefully she eased Roland's head to the ground, using the tree to help pull herself back to her feet. The knife in her hand was slick with sweat as she scanned the dense area surrounding her. A flash of red caught her eye and she ducked behind a tree, carefully moving to peer around it. The red was in the shape of a cross on a white bag which was resting on someone's shoulders. For a moment Beth simply stared at the shape of the figure walking away from her before she decided she had to risk it. Not wanting to leave Roland alone to chase down what might be a walker Beth placed her hands around her mouth to project the sound and as loud as she dared she whisper called out the first name she associated with medical supplies. 

"Penny!" Beth saw the figure halt in its tracks at the noise and her heart began to pound against her rib cage. Walkers heard noise just as easily as humans did. But then the figure turned around and Beth breathed a sigh of relief stepping out from behind the tree to wave them towards her. 

She was not alone; she had found someone. Her heart eased with the hope that Daryl and the others might find them yet as a disheveled Molly pushed her way into the clearing. She cast a quick look at Roland's sleeping form before giving Beth a once over. 

"Were either of you bit?" she asked quickly, her voice holding the no nonsense tone she often adopted. Beth shook her head quickly as she took in Molly's dirty features and the long scrape across her face. 

"Were you?" she asked quietly, she did not know if she could handle the one person she had been reunited with being only hours from death. Molly shook her head negative and indicated the cut on her face. 

"Got this when I went over the wall." she explained as she lowered the medical bag down off her shoulders. She shifted on her feet as if unsure of what to do now that she was no longer alone. "Have you seen anyone else?" her eyes were dark as they searched Beth's but she thought she saw a faint spark of hope in the older woman's eyes. 

Feeling almost guilty for having to tell the truth Beth shook her head no. "Oliver helped us over the fence." she whispered wanting to give Molly some form of information, even if it was the bad kind. "He was bit already so he stayed behind to find the others and tell them where we went out." 

Molly nodded solemnly as she turned to face the woods again. "You're the first people I've found since I escaped. I think most of the people in town died." her voice was emotionless but that did nothing to soften the blow Beth felt at those words. Molly continued on heedless of the pain Beth knew must have been on her face. "Living behind those fences made them soft. Most of them didn't have any idea what to do. They tried to get inside buildings or thought that they could take the herd on as it came." she shook her head as she looked up at the top of the trees. "Penny's dead." she said softly before looking back at Beth again. 

Beth stared at her open mouthed, unsure of what to say to all of this information. She had thought more people had escaped the town. Of course, she had been on the outskirts and had not seen the mess farther inside the fences. This was likely the first horde most people had ever seen; they wouldn't have known there was no way to take one on except to outrun it. 

And Penny. Beth blinked back tears at the thought of the older woman who had helped her with her pregnancy so much, who had been so kind to her. Molly did not offer her anymore explanation as to how she had died and Beth did not want to be so callous as to ask. 

"I'm sorry." she whispered knowing how close Molly had been with the woman she worked with every day. 

Molly shrugged and scuffed the ground with the toe of her boot. "Shit happens." she muttered under her breath before looking down at Roland and darting her eyes quickly back to Beth. Beth was kind enough not to remark on the tears the other woman was blinking away. 

"So." Molly drawled with another shrug. "What do we do now?" 

Beth opened her mouth to answer but before she could form a single word a figure stumbled into their clearing.


	11. Chapter 11

"Here's another one." Luke sighed with relief as he pulled down a scrap of worn plaid fabric from the tree branch where it was tied. Daryl quickly closed the five feet of space between them to pull the torn piece of cloth from his hands. He ran his fingers lightly over the material as if checking to make sure it was real before scanning the bark of the tree trunk for the arrow he knew would be there. 

"They went this way." Daryl informed them before pushing past Luke to lead the way. His eyes scanned the floor of the woods as he walked, the boot prints easier to find the farther out they went. 

When they had first started tracking Beth and Roland it had been easy as Beth's tracks were the only ones right next to that part of the fence. But as they got farther out her tracks got lost in the prints of others who had managed to make their way over the fences to flee the ruined sanctuary of Winston and head out into the uncertainty of the woods. There were also some zigzagged lines of footprints that could only mean walkers trampling their line of tracking into a mess. 

They were not even half a mile out when Beth's footprints had become indistinguishable from the rest. 

Daryl kept them going at a straight shot out from the fence, certain that Beth would have wanted to first put as much distance between herself and the most imminent danger before she tried to do anything else. After a while he had managed to stumble upon her boot print again but it seemed as if she was walking in a crooked and unsteady path and Daryl had felt a tremor of terror that she had been bitten or injured, or even turned. 

He had led the others on without a word about it. Sarah was already terrified by the fact that they were only following Beth footprints and that so far there had been no sign of Roland, no matter how many times Luke and Daryl tried to reassure her that Beth was likely carrying him to make better time. Daryl did not want to add any more to her worries, nor did he want to voice his concern aloud for the mere fact that acknowledging it would make it all the more real. 

Daryl had been following his wife's lopsided footprints with his gut growing more and more uneasy until he looked up and his eye caught on a familiar piece of plaid fabric. He had raced to the tree whose branch it was tied upon and tore it down, not believing that he was truly seeing it until it was there soft in his hands. 

His fingers had curled around it and he let out a sigh of relief that no matter what else had happened Beth was still coherent and smart enough to leave him this sign. Daryl turned to show the fabric to Luke and Sarah whose eyes had lit up in recognition. Daryl turned back towards the tree and scanned the area for some kind of indication as to what the scrap of fabric meant. Was it simply there to reassure him that she was still alive? 

That was when his gaze fell upon the crooked arrow carefully carved into the bark and pointing west. Daryl's muscles tensed in both relief and fear at the sight of it. That was the direction the horde had come from. As that thought occurred to him, he realized what Beth's intentions were. Circle around and go in the direction that the horde came from because they were no longer there. By this point Daryl would not be surprised if they were already breaking down the east fence. Well, unless they weren't done eating yet. 

Daryl forced those morbid thoughts from his mind for the time being. Right now, he had a job to do. It only took him a few seconds to relocate her prints and he motioned for Sarah and Luke to follow after him as he kept them going on the trail. Secretly he hoped that Beth would stop soon so that they could close the distance between them faster. He could only go so quickly while tracking, he did not want to lose the trail and have to double back. 

As time went on it became clear that Beth had not stopped or really even slowed. Daryl felt a stab of worry about her and the baby's health. Surely all of this running and stress was not good for either of them, especially if Beth truly was carrying Roland like he anticipated. Every half a mile or so they would come upon another scrap of fabric and would go in the direction that the arrow guided them. The scrap that Luke had just handed him was the eighth one that they had found. Daryl looked at the arrow and was just about to make them keep going when something by his feet caught his eye. 

Kneeling down Daryl carefully ran his fingers over the small shoe print beside the tree roots next to Beth's with relief. 

"Sarah." he whispered motioning for her to kneel down next to him. She did so unsurely as if she was afraid of what he was taking the time from their search to show her. Daryl ran a finger lightly around the edge of the child sized shoe print before looking over at Sarah, who had covered her mouth as a look of tangled relief and worry crossed her features. "He's still with her." Daryl reassured her, both of them staring down at the footprints of people they loved before they scrambled to their feet with a new found burst of hope. 

After seeing proof that at least at that moment Roland had been alive and with Beth their small group pushed their way through the woods even faster. Daryl began to leave the scraps on the trees simply following Beth's carefully carved directions. More than once he was grateful that he insisted she always carry that knife. It would protect them and it might just be one of the tools that led to them being reunited. 

About a mile after seeing Roland's footprints they stumbled into a small clearing, protected on the sides by trees that grew close together. Daryl stared at the empty space feeling sure that they had left the area only recently. Frantically his eyes scanned the floor and he felt his heart drop at the sight. 

Footprints overlapped each other wildly, more footprints than just Beth's and Roland's. Kneeling down Daryl ran his fingers over the dirt as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. 

"Looks like someone fell in over here." he said pointing to the tattered bushes next to him as he moved to the other side of the clearing. "They landed on their knees here." Daryl pointed to the spot on the floor as he ran his fingers over the dirt. "They were bleeding." he held up his fingers where the wet blood glistened in the sunlight shining down on them. "It's still wet. They must be close." Daryl got to his feet and looked around at the trees, not daring to feel hopeful. That blood was too fresh to be walker blood. His eyes scanned the branches frantically. He could not make sense of which direction they had left the clearing by their footprints so surely Beth must have left them a marker. 

Sarah interrupted his search. "Whose blood is it?" she asked breathlessly as she went to stand next to Daryl who ignored her as he had just spotted the fabric he was looking for. He darted to the tree quickly as he scanned the bark for the arrow he knew Beth had left him. Daryl pushed out of the clearing and made to follow the tracks he had just spotted when Sarah suddenly gripped his arm tightly. 

"Daryl." she hissed, her eyes bright and intense on his. "Whose blood is it?" 

Daryl was about to snap at her that he didn't know, that tracking did not let him recreate every scene, but he stopped himself at the look on her face. Sarah was just as worried for her son as he was for his family. He shook off her grip on his arm lightly. 

"We'll find out when we find them." he promised as he motioned Luke forward as well. The three of them took off at as much of a run as they could manage through the underbrush. Two sets of footprints had now joined Beth's and having the three of them made it easier for Daryl to follow. 

Daryl could feel that they were catching up on them, that the distance between them was growing closer with each passing second. The thought of that made his heart pound fast against his chest and he wished for a clear path so that he could run full out until he found her. He began to allow himself to believe that they would be reunited, that even after everything they could still be a family. Before Beth he never would have let himself hope that something as good as that could happen to him. But she had a way of making him believe in the best so for her Daryl would hold on to this small shred of hope. 

They had been running long enough for Daryl's breath to become labored when he heard it. 

A cry of surprise, just within earshot. Daryl sped forward towards the noise; he could hear the others hot on his heels having heard the noise themselves. Before they had both been following in a straight line after him but now Sarah and Luke both veered off to make their own paths through the underbrush. In the back of his mind Daryl worried about the amount of noise that they were making crashing through the foliage like this but he had more important things to focus on. 

He shoved a branch out of his way and nearly fell over in surprise as he pushed out of the tree line. In an instant Daryl realized two things, he was now out of the woods on a small paved road and there were five people standing right in front of him. His eyes, however, were drawn only to one. 

Without a sound Beth raced past the others to throw herself into Daryl's already opening arms. Daryl wrapped his arms tight around Beth's waist as he crushed her to his chest, tucking his head down into her hair. 

His heart was still pounding from his race through the woods but he could feel hers beating just as fast against him. His arms tightened around her at the feeling, the feel of her heartbeat reassuring him more than anything else that she was still alive. 

"I knew you would find me." Beth whispered softly into the material of his vest and Daryl loosened his grip enough for her to pull back and look up at him. There was dirt streaked across her face and scrapes from branches on her cheek but she had never seemed so beautiful as she did in that moment. Beth smiled widely at him as she moved her hands from his shoulders to cup his face. Slowly it began to sink in that they had actually done it. Despite everything they had found each other again. 

"I'll always find you." Daryl promised his voice thick as she stood up on her tiptoes to press her lips tightly to his. 

He could have gone on kissing her for hours, for days, but despite his relief Daryl knew that they were not safe yet. Part of him wished that it had been this easy to reunite with others after the prison and part of him was nearly dizzy with relief that Beth was now safe in his arms. 

Still keeping a tight grip on her, almost afraid that if he let go she would disappear again, Daryl surveyed the others sharing the road with him as Beth tucked her head against his chest. 

Sarah was clutching Roland tightly to her as Luke ruffled the boy's hair. Even from a few feet away Daryl could see the tear tracks leaving marks in the dirt on Sarah's face. A few feet from them stood a dazed looking George who simply stood staring off in the direction Winston had been, as though what had happened to it had not yet fully sunk into him. A short distance from them stood Molly who nodded at Daryl, her arm wrapped tight around Jill's waist who was leaning on her with one foot held slightly off the ground. 

Beth pulled away from him to look around at the people they were sharing the road with. Daryl saw her bite her lip in worry and he placed his hand softly on her lower back, still not quite believing that it had been that simple for them to reunite. Beth suddenly turned to look up at him with her large blue eyes as she whispered too soft for the others to hear, "What do we do now?" 

The hinges groaned in protest as Luke slowly eased the door to the house open. Beth flinched slightly at the sound before looking over her shoulder to see if any walkers were still following them. The street behind them was deserted and it appeared, for the time being at least, that they had lost the small group that had attached itself to their heels. 

Beth rocked back on the heels of her boots and tried to peer around the others to see into the interior of the house. Luke, Daryl and Sarah all headed inside with their newly acquired weapons to make sure the location was clear. Beth's own weapon, a crowbar lifted from the hardware store down the street, was slick with sweat in her hands as she kept watch on the street behind them as they all huddled together on the stairs. 

Dusk had already crept up on them and the street was painted in the dark blue of twilight as the stars and moon slowly began to make their appearance and offer some form of light for the people still left alive on this planet. Beth stared up at them almost accusingly, how could they simply watch all this suffering in silence? 

Molly shifted her weight on the stairs next to Beth causing a small rock to fall off the stairs with a slight ping as it hit the concrete. Both of them stared down at it before scanning the streets again as if that small noise would be enough to give their location away, which Beth supposed it very well could be. 

The street was still clear and Beth could not hear any noises from the interior of the house which reassured her that the others were not in trouble. She did not yet dare to hope they could spend the night in the house, after spending so long sleeping in a bed at Winston the night before where they had all slept huddled together on the dirt floor of the woods had not been as easy as she once remembered it being. 

It was strange how quickly one got accustomed to things. 

Luckily, they had Jill and George with them who knew the area well enough to direct them to a small town about ten miles away from where they had spent the night. Much of it had already been picked over and there were very few supplies still worth taking but they were able to scrounge up enough tools for weapons at the hardware store and find a few meager cans of food in some of the houses. It wasn't the best food but even three-year-old canned corn was better than going hungry. 

A soft whistle drew Beth from her thoughts and she turned to catch sight of Daryl standing in the doorway of the house. He beckoned them in with one hand his other still clutching his crossbow to his side as he scanned the street behind them. 

The rest of their party quickly sped up the steps and into the dark interior of the house. Daryl shut and locked the door behind them before motioning to George to help him move a nearby couch in front of it. 

Beth stood next to the stairs as she looked around at the dusty room, her hand unconsciously rubbing her stomach. The couch now in place Daryl moved to stand next to her, placing on hand softly on her lower back. 

"We found more food in the kitchen." he informed them; his breath hot on her ear. "C'mon." 

Beth allowed Daryl to lead her into the kitchen after the others where a small stack of cans and dried goods sat unopened on the kitchen table. Jill knelt next to the pantry pulling out more cans and passing them to Luke who added them to the pile. 

Luke all but beamed at them as they walked in. "It's a feast tonight!" he cried happily before rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish smile at the look on Daryl's face. "Or it would be if we didn't have to ration everything." he mumbled before giving them all a wry grin and moving to grab another can from Jill's outstretched hand. 

"I'm going to go see if I can find any medical supplies." Molly said as she placed her bag down on the table next to the food and headed off into the darkness of the house. 

"Don't go in the second door on the right upstairs." Daryl called after her. Beth looked up at him just in time to see the quick flash of pain cross his features. She did not need to ask him what he had found in there, she could tell from his face that it had been corpses and she would rather not hear any other details about it. Especially if he was warning people not to approach the room. 

Beth heard Molly's soft footfalls on the stairs and she wearily sank down into a chair at the table. They had only managed to catch a small squirrel the night before, animals were nearly as scare as living people these days, and split between eight people it had not even made a dent in the growling of their stomachs. Beth was not looking forward to the hollow feeling she had grown accustomed to the winter they had spent on the road what seemed like decades ago. She found it strange that she could remember that feeling but she had trouble remembering the sound of her mother's laughter. 

A sudden noise drew Beth from her depressing thoughts and she blinked in surprise at the open can of food in front of her. She looked up to see Daryl handing her a spoon with a meaningful look. 

"You need to eat." he said as she reached up to take the spoon from his hand, her fingers brushing lightly against his. Beth smiled at him as he sat down next to her, his own can of food in hand. The group ate in a silence that was only interrupted by the sounds of Molly digging through things upstairs. The taste of the food was lost on her but Beth was grateful when it eased the gnawing pain in her stomach. As she finished her can Beth settled back against her chair and ran her hand through her tangled ponytail mentally reminding herself to find a brush before it got too unmanageable. 

Metal scarping against wood caught her attention and she looked down to see Daryl passing her his still half full can. 

"Eat it." he whispered as she stared at him accusingly. Beth appreciated the gesture, she knew as well as he did that she was eating for two, but that did not mean she wanted him to go hungry or deprived of nutrients. To appease him she reached for the can and ate a few bites before passing it back to him. 

"Thank you." she whispered softly pushing the can into his hands when he tried to shove it back at her. Beth leaned into his shoulder so the others could not hear her. "You need to eat too. You need your strength to help protect us." 

Daryl looked down at her, a protest clearly on his lips, before he seemed to catch her real meaning. That he was the only one who truly could protect all of them. 

Luke was far too reckless to be a hundred percent dependable. While he never would actually try to put any of their lives in harm's way he never truly thought his actions through which could lead to disastrous consequences. Jill was injured, her ankle sprained when she jumped down from the fence at Winston. A good fighter but Beth did not know her well enough to trust her. A loner even in the community at Winston she would likely put her own interests before those of the others. 

George seemed to be in a severe state of shock. Beth honestly had no idea how he had managed to get from his ruined town to the road they had stumbled upon him. His can of food sat untouched before him and he stared straight ahead at nothing unblinkingly. Beth supposed he was just unable to cope with the fact that the town he had worked so hard and for so long to protect was just suddenly gone. 

Roland was just a child and while he had calmed down upon being reunited with his mother, he still sometimes burst into tears for seemingly no reason. Beth knew it was due to not only the loss of Oliver but because they were out in the dangerous uncertainty of the world again. He was smart enough to keep his cries silent for which Beth was grateful. 

Sarah had her hands full with him and her own grief. She could still fight but often she was carrying Roland or holding his hand. She would not be much protection if they were attacked by a large group. She would choose to protect her child before any of them and Beth honestly did not begrudge her for that. She had no doubt she would be the same way soon enough. 

Molly could take down walkers well enough but she had never been out on the road before. Since the turn she had always been somewhere relatively safe. Even when she did runs at the hospital it was only to get more food from the cafeteria or supplies from somewhere else in the building. She never had to go far and had the benefit of knowing the layout and that she had a safe place to flee to if need be. Besides that, she seemed to be shutting them all out, much the same way as Daryl had done to Beth after the prison. Beth knew she was mourning the loss of Penny and worried about the people she had been with at the hospital. She did not have the heart to ask if Molly had seen any of them on her way out. 

No, when it came down to it Daryl, and Beth herself, were the ones most prepared for this type of situation. They had spent their time on the road before, more time than Beth liked to remember. There was no one in the world Beth would trust more than Daryl to protect them. She could not let him go without food and run the risk of him passing out from malnutrition in the middle of a walker attack. 

Daryl must have realized the intelligence of her plea for he ate the rest of his can of food without protest, although Beth could see a slight twinge of resentment in his eyes. Beth squeezed his knee under the table causing him to look over at her. She mouthed him a ‘thank you’ and she saw his eyes soften before he nodded at her. Beth let out a sigh of relief before her attention was caught by the sound of Molly coming down the stairs. 

She came into the kitchen with a backpack in her arms. "There wasn't much." she informed them as she sat the bag down and accepted the can of food Sarah passed her. "Just some bandages and over the counter medication. I took all of it, just in case." she took a bite of her food before something seemed to occur to her and she bent to rustle in the bag at her feet. Straightening Molly passed a white pill bottle across the table to Beth who took it from her in surprise. "I also found a little something for our mama to be." 

Turning the pill bottle in her hands Beth's heart soared in relief at the sight of the prenatal vitamins. She opened the bottle and immediately shook one into her hand. "Thank you." she whispered to Molly as Daryl nodded over at her in gratitude. Beth swallowed the pill with a small sip of water from the one bottle they had managed to find. She hoped they could find more soon, or at least a stream, it was far too hot outside to continue on without it. 

The group sat in a loaded silence for a few minutes, the only sound their utensils hitting the aluminum edges of their cans, each one silently mourning or worrying for their lost ones. Beth was close to falling asleep against Daryl's chest as they sat. In the back of her mind she realized that they should have someone out on watch and she sat up to mention it but Molly's voice cut her off. 

"So." the elder woman stated as she sat down her food can and crossed her arms over her chest. "We need to come up with a plan. Are we just going to play house here forever or are we going to look for other survivors?" 

Her gaze was bright on each of them as she looked at them in turn. Beth shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She honestly did not know what to do. It was not that she did not care about any of the others that had been left behind in Winston it was just that she knew firsthand how hopeless it could be to look for people after something like that, and they were already a day and a half away. The people she cared about were here with her now but Beth still did not like the idea of leaving people without even trying to look for them. She had never felt so conflicted as she looked back up at Molly who in turn stared at the table as she whispered. 

"Or do we just leave them and move on?" 

"You're sure this is what you want?" Sarah asked softly as she handed Jill the walking stick she had fashioned from a fallen tree branch. Daryl busied himself checking on the arrows he had just finished making as the two women hugged. He saw Beth go forward then and kiss both Jill and George on the cheek. 

"Good luck." she whispered softly. "And thank you." 

Neither Jill nor George said anything else, they simply nodded at the others as they grabbed their meager supplies and slipped out of the doorway, apparently neither one very big on drawn out good-byes. 

It had not been an easy decision deciding whether or not they would make the dangerous trip back to the ruins of Winston on the off chance that they would find other survivors. Although he had felt guilty about it Daryl had been adamant that they keep moving on. It was not safe to stay that close to a horde nor was it smart to travel back there. They would likely find nothing but death and more walkers than they could handle. He did not need to mention the prison to Beth for her to understand his reasoning for staying away, he could see the memory of the endless days they spent looking for the others clear in her eyes. It was not that Daryl did not think the people they left behind weren't looking for, it was just that he had to protect enough people already. And there was no way in hell he was going to let his pregnant wife walk back into that. 

Molly saw the sense in not going back and she was steadfast in her refusal to look. In truth, Daryl thought she was just too scared of coming up empty so she would rather she never found her friends because she chose not to look rather than because they couldn't find each other. Sarah simply refused to go back to the place where she had watched her godfather die, nor was she willing to put her son into that kind of dangerous situation. 

Jill had wanted to go back immediately but had been too disoriented when she first left which caused her to keep heading farther into the woods until she fell in with Beth. The second she had regained her wits she had wanted to go back to Winston but they would not let her until they had found her some supplies or at the very least a reliable weapon. When George finally came out of shock, he put forth the strongest vote for returning to look for survivors. He said he could not simply abandon the people he had promised safety and shelter to like that. 

With Beth still willing to go back to look for people as well and Roland too young and dependent on others for his vote to truly count it was surprisingly Luke who came up with the solution to split their tie. Those who wanted to go look for others would go and those who didn't would figure out a way to move on. 

This settled things for most of the group but not for Daryl and Beth who spent the night in a furious whisper match on morality and abandonment. In the end Daryl managed to make her see the sense in his reasoning, it was just far too dangerous to risk all of their lives on something they both knew all too well might not happen. So, Beth relented and agreed to stay out of the search party, joining him only slightly surly that morning to wish Jill and George good-bye and good luck on their journey. 

After they left Beth headed off with Sarah and Daryl joined Luke on the back porch where he sat on a rickety porch swing that looked likely to break under his weight at any moment. The familiar scent of cigarette smoke reached Daryl's noise and his lungs ached in a craving for a taste of something he had almost forgotten. Luke looked up as the door shut behind Daryl, smiling at the look of longing that was surely on his face. He shook a cigarette out of the half full pack on his lap and held it out to Daryl. 

"Just found them this morning." Luke said with a ghost of a smile on his lips. "Figured why the hell not? Never smoked before this so why not start now?" his dark eyes grew troublesome as he looked out at the empty overgrown yard before them. Daryl accepted the cigarette with relief, the thin cylinder fitting in a comfortingly familiar way against his fingers. He took the match book from Luke's outstretched fingers and his first drag felt both disgusting and like his first breath of fresh air in a long time. 

While he knew it was just a cigarette and not an actual reprieve from his problems Daryl could not help but feel as though things were a little bit easier with that piece of nicotine in his hands and his lungs. Perhaps it just caused him to remember when things were simpler but for a moment, he could forget all of the shit they were going through. 

The sound of the door opening drew him suddenly from his thoughts and both him and Luke tuned to see Molly framed in the doorway. She eyed the cigarettes in their hands reproachfully and Daryl reminded himself that she used to be a nurse as she frowned at them. He suddenly irrationally felt the urge to hide the cigarette behind his back. 

"Those will kill you, you know." she informed them while raising an eyebrow. 

Luke grinned at her widely as he took a deep drag. Daryl took a smaller drag and could not help but wonder how Luke wasn't coughing up a lung from that move, especially as that was his first cigarette. 

"That's alright darling. Not like lung cancer will end me before the walkers do." Luke chuckled as he dropped the cigarette butt to the porch and ground it out with the toe of his boot. Daryl took his last drag and followed suit, already missing the sense of peace it had briefly given him. 

Molly stopped Luke in the doorway with a hand on his chest. "Don't ever call me darling again." she whispered menacingly before motioning for both of them to follow her. "We need to come up with a plan. Can't just stay here forever." 

Daryl followed her silently, wishing that she was wrong. It wasn't necessarily this house he wanted to spend the rest of his days in, just any house. His whole life he had never truly felt like he had a home, and every time he did start to feel at ease, like he could truly make a life somewhere, someone always tried to take it away from him. He was so sick of running and hiding. All Daryl wanted to do was find a safe place to be with Beth and raise their baby. He was so sick of fighting other people's battles, of running from walkers. It seemed so unfair to him that the moment Winston truly felt like somewhere he could feel at home at, it was ripped away from him. Just like the prison. Just like Beth's family farm. 

It seemed as though he was cursed. He was doomed to forever be a nomadic wanderer. 

Daryl walked into the kitchen where the rest of their group was gathered. Beth met his eyes from across the room and gave him a small smile which he returned with a nod, glad that their disagreement seemed to have passed. While he was relived, he was in no way surprised. Beth was a smart woman and he knew she had seen the reasoning in not going back into Winston. Sometimes they had to choose when to risk their lives or not. 

"Okay." Molly said as she looked at all of them in the room. "What's our plan?" 

Luke shifted uneasily where he stood as though he was uncomfortable with the responsibility of being asked such a direct question. Roland looked up from the piece of paper he was drawing on with a look of curiosity and Sarah sighed and ran her hands though her hair. 

Daryl frowned and thought back on every place he could remember passing on their journey here to see if any of them had seemed like a good place for them to stay for a long period of time. That was what they needed to plan for, a long-term location. His thoughts drifted to the farmhouse where he had spent the winter with Beth and his eyes shifted to her as the memories of what all had happened there flooded him. 

Beth sat with her arms crossed on the table and her brow furrowed as if she was in deep thought. As though she felt his eyes on her she looked up slowly before blushing slightly under the heat of his gaze. 

"Well the first question is are we all going to stay together?" Sarah finally broke the silence as she looked up from the table and around at all of them gathered in the room. Daryl met her eyes in silence, it was a tough question but he found himself glad that it had been asked. He would much rather watch someone leave than wake up in the morning and find out they were simply gone. 

Luke snorted and shrugged nonchalantly. "You're the only family I have left. You won't get rid of me that easily." The pair shared such a loaded look that Daryl felt the need to look away. Catching Beth's eye again Daryl rose his eyebrows at her. All those months alone together in the woods had done wonders for their ability to silently communicate. He needed to know if she wanted to stay before he volunteered them to or not. 

She nodded slowly at him and Daryl took a deep breath before he admitted to himself that he did not like being out there alone, or even just with Beth. He needed others around him too, it was just too hard without them. 

"We'll stay." he mumbled causing Beth to beam at him and Roland to clap his hands in excitement, which Sarah quickly shushed. Noise was never a good idea no matter where they were. 

The group turned to look at Molly who dropped her arms to her sides with a deep sigh. 

"Look." she started before she frowned and crossed her arms again staring at each of them defiantly. "Sometimes nurses, especially those of us in the ER, would get attached to a patient. We would try everything, do anything, in an attempt to keep them alive." she shrugged and looked back down at her boots. "And well, this really isn't any different." 

"None of us are hurt. None of us are your patients." Beth whispered; her gaze tight on Molly. Daryl could tell from the hidden edge of hope in her voice that Beth wanted Molly to stay with them but she would feel too guilty if she did not to give her this chance to leave. They needed Molly, Beth more than anyone, to stay with them. Sure, they had all learned how to take care of minor wounds by this point, and Daryl had once pulled an arrow out of his own side, but taking care of someone else was different. Daryl would not be able to learn how to deliver a baby by himself quickly enough no matter how many books they found for him to read. 

For one breathless moment Molly did not say anything and seemed to be considering Beth's unspoken offer. Daryl ground his teeth together in fear. Walkers he could handle but the idea of helping Beth give birth without the aid of a real medical professional made him almost sick with fear. 

Seemingly coming to a decision Molly looked at Beth with a steely gaze. "Yes, you are." 

Daryl could not hold back the sigh of relief that escaped him and the others all looked at him in surprise before Luke let out a laugh and clapped him on the shoulder. 

"Dodged that bullet eh?" he asked with a grin before he sat down next to Sarah. Daryl rolled his eyes before walking across the room and sitting himself next to Beth who squeezed his hand in relief under the table. 

"We still need to decide what we want to do." Sarah said, looking almost sad at having to ruin the suddenly good atmosphere. Molly joined them at the table with a sigh and from the corner of his eye Daryl saw Beth bite her lip in thought. 

"I know a place." she finally whispered causing all of them to look at her in surprise, Daryl included. He had not thought of anywhere safe enough to go, was it somewhere she had been before the turn? "Actually, we both know of a place." Daryl's brow furrowed at that as Beth waved a hand to indicate both of them. The others all but leaned forward in their seats in anticipation and Daryl held his tongue to prevent himself from asking her where. 

Where on earth did Beth think they could go that would be safe enough for her to have the baby? 

"It's back in Georgia so it is a bit of a ways away. And it wasn't exactly the safest place when we left it but I think we could clean it up really easily." Beth continued sheepishly and Daryl found himself suddenly hoping that she was not about to say that she wanted to go back to the prison and try to repair it. Even if they could manage to kill all the walkers and repair the fences the memories alone would be enough to kill him. Plus having a baby there hadn't gone so well the first time. 

He had just opened his mouth to shoot down her idea when Beth whispered, so soft he could barely hear her, "We could try my dad's farm. I could have the baby there." 

"I did not miss walking this much." Luke grumbled with a humorless chuckle as he shifted his bag higher up on his back. Beth looked back over her shoulder at him with a small smile. 

"We'll try to find a car soon." she appeased him and the others who followed behind her and Daryl, who were leading the way for their small group. "It's a fairly far journey." Beth admitted as she turned back around and faced the abandoned road they were walking down. They had found a map that morning and had marked off the quickest route to Beth's old family farm. She was grateful for the map for she could only rely on herself to find it by memory once they were back in Georgia. And even then, her memories from before the turn seemed so distant now. Like the memory of a memory. 

They were going a different way than the paths her and Daryl had trampled up through the woods on their journey up the eastern side of the US in their original quest to hit Washington DC, a journey that seemed so foolish now. This time they were making their journey predominately on the roads, which was both a luxury and a cause of severe worry for Beth and Daryl. While the others had been lucky enough not to run into any severely dangerous people since everything had started the memory of the Governor still rung fresh and clear in their minds. Beth tried not to think too much about it because every time she did all she could see was her father's head being hacked off and she found it intensely difficult to breath. 

In truth a small part of her was worried that returning to the farm would have the same effect on her. That being surrounded by those places, those memories and ghosts would simply overwhelm her. Beth was strong enough to withstand a lot of things: watching her father die, seeing her brother and mom being put down in front of her, the fall of the prison, being shot at, killing walkers. Beth was all too well aware that she could survive a lot. Looking back now she could not believe she had ever wanted to end her own life but in the end, she was grateful for that depression. It had taught her how much she truly wanted to live. Andrea had been right of course; the pain hadn't ever once left her. She had only managed to withstand it because of the good things that had surprisingly come her way: the relief of the prison, Judith, her father surviving his bite, Daryl. 

Beth could live through a lot. She just wasn't sure if she was strong enough to battle the memories that were sure to be running wild across her family's farm. But she honestly could not think of any other place to go and, while she wouldn't admit it to anyone else, a large part of her wanted to be able to raise her child in the farmhouse where she had grown up. There was no way her child would have a normal life but she wanted to give it any piece of normalcy that she could. 

"Finding a car is not the problem. Its finding one that actually works." Sarah said, drawing Beth from her thoughts, as she tightened her grip on Roland's hand who looked up at her in surprise at her wary tone. 

She was right of course, the road that they were walking down had plenty of cars to choose from. Only problem was that so far all of them had been so far out of commission that even Luke and Daryl could do nothing to make them work. At least not with their lack of tools and materials. 

Beth sighed and shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans. She felt guilty for suggesting that they go to a place as far away as her family farm. Daryl must have caught sense of that because he walked a few steps closer to her and whispered under his breath. 

"Stop it. They can always leave us if they want too." 

Beth looked over at him and met his eyes with a slight smile. "I know that." she whispered in return, casting a quick glance to make sure that the others could not overhear them. "I'm just worried that we're going to get there and it will still be overrun or that the barn fire burned the whole place down." Beth swallowed hard at the thought of that. She really wanted to be able to find at least one picture of her family to show her child as they grew up. Besides that, she did not know if she would be able to handle seeing her farm burnt down to ashes. 

Daryl shook his head as he scanned the street for walkers. "You can't worry about that now. We'll see how bad the damage is when we get there." 

She nodded and smiled over at him. "You're right." Beth kicked at a loose stone on the ground before asking the question that had been burning in her mind since they started their journey that morning. "Are you okay with it? With going back there I mean." 

There was a second of silence as Daryl paused and thought it over. Beth bit her lip in worry that he was going to tell her that he had not wanted to go back there, that he was not looking forward to seeing the ghosts either. She remembered well enough that some of his friends, his family, had died on her farm as well. 

"It's going to be tough." he admitted so softly under his breath Beth wasn't sure that she had heard him right. Daryl looked over at her then, his eyes for once not hiding the pain they both felt at the memories of Georgia. "But we'll make it through it." 

Beth smiled at him sadly before reaching over to squeeze his hand once. She could not find the words to tell him how grateful she was that he was willing to make this journey with her, especially since it was going to be a long and dangerous trip that might end up with them coming up empty. Beth forced herself to heed Daryl's advice and not think about the farm being gone. She made herself believe that it was going to be still standing and either empty or only full of a manageable number of walkers. They had cleared the prison out; they would find a way to clear out her farm. 

"So how secure is your farm?" Molly asked suddenly as she closed the distance between them. 

Beth and Daryl exchanged a look, neither of them sure of just how much to tell the others. Finally, Beth decided that they needed to know the truth before she asked them to cross two states for them. 

"We don't actually know anymore." she admitted looking guiltily at the others as they walked closer towards them. 

"Why not?" Roland asked, his eyes wide with a child's innocence as he stared up at her. 

Beth opened her mouth to answer but before she could say anything Daryl spoke. "There was a fire the night we left. And a horde." he shook his head as a walker stumbled out onto the street, a cross-bolt firing before Beth even had time to grab her knife. "Not as big as the one at Winston but big enough." They walked past the walker and Daryl put a foot on its chest as he bent to pull the bolt out of its skull. 

No one longer flinched at this motion or the sound. 

"So, you don't even know if this place is still standing?" Sarah asked in surprise as she looked at Beth almost accusingly. 

Beth blushed and looked away from her, ashamed at herself for not telling her this before she asked her to bring her young son on this dangerous and perhaps fruitless quest. "You don't have to come with us." she whispered. "I just don't know where else to go." Beth admitted as she looked back at the woman who frowned at her before looking down at her son, clearly unsure of what to do. 

Roland stared back at his mother before setting his lips in a firm line. "I'm not leaving Beth." he said suddenly, nearly causing Beth to trip in surprise at his stubborn tone. 

For a moment no one said anything before Sarah looked back at Beth with a small smile. "That settles it then. We're staying with you." 

Beth smiled down at Roland, leaning over to ruffle his hair as they continued walking in silence. 

"You're sure you can't think of anywhere else that might be safe?" Molly asked curiously causing the rest of the group to look over at her. She shrugged at their looks before explaining. "I've been in a hospital this whole time. It was the safest place I knew of but I wouldn't risk going back there again. Sarah and Ro' aren't from the area, neither is Luke. You two are the only ones who might know of somewhere to go." 

Daryl glanced at Beth from the corner of his eye before shaking his head and answering. "That's all we've got." 

"Is that where you were since the turn? Her farm?" Sarah asked conversationally as she looked over at them. It was only then that Beth realized that despite all that they had shared with these people they had never bothered to tell them their story. She looked over at Daryl in surprise, sure that one of them had told the others what had happened to them, but he met her gaze with a surprised look of his own. It seemed it was as hard for him to tell others about their past as it was for her. 

"No." Beth whispered softly as memories and faces rushed at her. "We were only there for the first few months after the turn. Daryl and his group showed up roughly two months in." 

"When Carl got shot?" Molly asked questioningly, causing Beth to look at her in surprise. The older girl shrugged. "Daryl said that's how you two met." she explained. 

Beth looked over at Daryl with a raised eyebrow, while the statement was true, she had never thought about it that way. She hated the idea that Carl's suffering had led Daryl to her but she had a feeling if Carl was there, he would have gotten a kick out of being attributed to their meeting. 

"I suppose it was." Beth said grinning at Daryl's sheepish expression. "Anyway, when the farm got overrun, we spent the winter on the road. Then we found this prison and managed to clean it out. We lived there for a long time." 

Beth grew quiet and she saw Daryl shift uncomfortably at the memories. She wanted desperately to hold him at that moment but knew he would not appreciate that in front of the others. 

"Then what happened?" Roland asked expectantly, causing Beth to tear her eyes from Daryl to look down at him. 

"We were attacked." she admitted, looking forward quickly before anyone could see the tears suddenly in her eyes. Cursing her pregnancy hormones Beth took a deep breath before admitting. "We lost everyone else that day." She did not bother to explain that they might still be alive, sometimes that hope hurt her more than it helped. Ignoring Daryl's confused look, she walked a bit faster to put some distance between herself and the others knowing full well what she was trying to outrun was her own memories. 

Daryl could not decide whether the rain was a blessing or a curse. 

On the one hand, it was cool, refreshing and a nice break from the hot summer days that seemed to be never ending. It also helped to wash off some of the dirt that had accumulated to their bodies and clothes during the last week they had spent on the road. But on the other hand, with all the moisture in the air every breath he took now felt like a chore. Daryl could no longer tell what moisture on his body was rain water and what was sweat from the humidity. 

The group had continued walking through the summer storm for quite some time, at first enjoying any form of a cleansing they could get. As they walked, however, it became apparent that the rain was not going to let up anytime soon. Soon the refreshing and joyful aspect of the rain was lost and the group walked down the two-lane highway in a surly silence, their clothes soon hanging heavily on their bodies. 

As darkness approached and the rain showed no sign of letting up Daryl began to scan the roadside for a place for them to spend the night, preferably somewhere dry. He was not having very much luck however as it seemed this small road in South Carolina was not very well used, nor was it ever widely populated. 

He looked over at Beth who walked next to him with her head down in an attempt to keep some of the rain from falling into her eyes and severely obscuring her vision. As it grew darker it was getting harder to see much on the road around them with the rain falling increasingly steady on them. Beth must have felt his gaze because she looked over at him then with a small smile. 

"Wish I had some soap." she joked as she brushed some water off of her forehead, only for it to be wet again in seconds. "I've never showered in the rain." 

Daryl felt himself smile at her, glad that the rain water had not dampened her spirits. "I have." he admitted causing her to laugh softly. 

Beth grinned and shook her head at him as they continued walking. It seemed that the less distance between her farm and Georgia the better spirits she seemed to be in. Despite her worries and depressed attitude of a few days ago she seemed to be able to put all her fears on hold as they made their journey with good time and so far, no close calls. They had even managed to find a working car to use for a few days which had cut their journey's time down drastically. 

"I feel like I'm drowning." Molly complained lightly from behind them and Daryl looked back in time to see her wringing out her hair, a gush of water falling from it. He had never been more grateful to have shorter hair than in that moment. "We need to find somewhere and get out of this or I don't think I will ever be dry again." 

The others all made noises of agreement and they walked a bit faster through the rain, all hoping to find something usable for shelter. The rain was so hard it was getting tough to see more than a few feet in front of them and they would have missed the van entirely if Roland had not cried out suddenly. 

Daryl turned to look at him and saw the child pointing at the ditch on the side of the road. Daryl followed the line of his finger to see a white blur in the darkness. Quietly he headed towards it, his crossbow armed and ready in his hands. From the corner of his eye he saw Luke raise his crowbar and join him. Daryl motioned for him to go one way around the van while he went around the other. 

His boots nearly slipped in the mud surrounding the vehicle as he made his way around it. From the outside it looked secure, no broken windows or doors and no walkers milling around outside. It was not a van as Daryl had assumed however, it was a delivery truck. Luke and him crossed paths before they made their way back to the group who stood huddled uneasily a few feet from the back doors, Beth watching the street behind them with her knife held tight. 

Motioning for everyone to hold their weapons at the ready Daryl and Luke both seized a handle before counting to three and pulling the doors wide open. They were granted with the sight of a cluttered interior, overturned boxes and papers streaming about inside. Other than that, it was empty and Daryl motioned for the others to follow Luke inside, who immediately started shoving packages towards the back to make more room. 

Daryl jumped into the van and held a hand down to Beth to help her up. The last of them inside he carefully eased the door shut behind them, tossing them into total blackness. Roland let out a cry of surprise before Sarah began to shush him comfortingly. 

"Will we have enough air in here?" Molly asked as Daryl heard the sounds of more packages being moved around as well as the noise of water dripping off of their clothing. 

"There should be." Sarah said as Daryl heard the sound of cardboard ripping. "The air in here doesn't feel too stagnant does it?" 

This seemed to appease all of them for no one said anything for a moment. Beth squeezed Daryl's hand in the darkness and they sat and listened to the sound of someone digging through a box. 

"Finally!" Luke cried just as a small beam of light lit up the interior. 

Daryl blinked at the brightness of the small flashlight Luke held in his hands before checking to make sure there were no windows in the van. They did not need walkers or other people to see the light and decide to investigate it. Relieved for the time being that they were safe from at least that Daryl joined the others in tearing open the boxes, scouring through them for some kind of supplies. 

Every so often they would carefully ease the doors open and remove the broken boxes and all of their useless contents into the tree line a few feet behind the vehicle. So far most of what they had found was useless to them, movies and electronics, extravagant jewelry or toys. They did find a set of toy cars that they gave to Roland who sat quietly in the back of the truck happier than Daryl had ever seen, well anyone, since the turn. 

Eventually they managed to find some clothes that would fit each of them, although nearly all of it was still too big. With relief they each stripped out of their wet clothes, most of which they tossed into the woods with the rest of the trash, as they changed into their new clean ones. Daryl lay his wing vest out to dry as he settled down on the floor of the van next to Beth who smiled at him as she turned a paperback book in her hands. 

"I swear all the good reading material was the first thing to go." she joked as she looked down at the cover which showed a couple in a ridiculous pose that Daryl assumed was supposed to look romantic. 

Daryl snorted before agreeing with her. "I've never read a book like that." he said as he tapped the cover with one finger. 

Beth smiled up at him sheepishly. "I used to sneak my mother's and read them." she admitted with a blush as Daryl chuckled. 

To soon they had gone through all of the boxes in the van finding very little that was actually of use to them. They kept the clothes and a few books, the one flashlight, a few decorative knives whose purpose would no longer be to look pretty, and best of all a box full of canned food. 

Daryl had been surprised at this until Sarah informed him that some people actually used to order their groceries online. He managed to put the strangeness of that aside as they all settled down to eat, the only sound the soft ping of the rain as it bounced off of the metal ceiling of the truck. 

That night Daryl took the first watch, leaning against the side of the truck with his crossbow in his lap and Beth curled up at his side. The sounds of the others sleeping filled his ears as he watched the doors of the truck in silence, trying to hear past the others to the world outside. Beth was still awake and she ran her fingers absentmindedly down his arm, drawing pictures against his skin. 

They sat in companionable silence until Daryl shook Luke awake for his shift. Beth then moved over so that Daryl could lay next to her on the cramped metal floor, his arms around her and his crossbow right in front of her so that he could grab it in a moment's notice. She fell asleep before he did and Daryl let the calm steadiness of her breathing and the warmth of her in his arms to lull him into slumber. 

He was torn from his sleep suddenly and for a moment he did not know what it was that had caused him to awaken. He could tell from the soreness of his body that he had been asleep for some time. Daryl then noticed that the rain had stopped falling which he assumed was what woke him up. He tucked his head against Beth's shoulder and was about to try to fall back asleep when he heard a soft scrape behind him. Lifting his head, he looked behind him and was surprised to see Molly clutching her knife tightly and carefully picking her way through the other's sleeping forms. 

She noticed Daryl was awake and rose a finger to her lips to keep him silent. She mouthed the word 'car' at him causing his chest to clench in fear and distrust. A car meant other people. Other people could be dangerous. Carefully Daryl eased his arm out from under Beth who shifted awake at the motion. She blinked up at him and opened her mouth but Daryl quickly lay his palm flat over her lips causing her eyes to go wide in fear at him as he mouthed 'car'. 

He reached over her to grab his crossbow, going to his knees and raising it at the door. Beth carefully eased herself into a crouch next to him, her knife tight in her hand as Molly began to rouse the others. Daryl could now hear the sounds of people coming through the thick metal of their vehicle. He heard a few car doors shut and the soft sounds of people arguing. 

He felt his hands tighten their hold on his crossbow just as the doors of the truck were flung open. To his surprise no one in the truck cried out. Bright early morning sunlight flooded the interior and Daryl had to blink the brightness from his eyes as he glared at the man framed in the doorway. 

For a moment all Daryl could see was his silhouette and the gun he had trained on them. Daryl's fingers made to squeeze the trigger of his own weapon just as the stranger lowered his. 

Daryl's eyes now adjusted to the light he heard Beth's breathing speed up in fear as he surveyed the man standing before them, who took the sight of all of them in with bright blue eyes. 

The man was probably a few years older than him, with a medium build and reddish hair. His mustache quivered in what Daryl guessed was a smile as he spoke. 

"Well shit, can't say I was expecting that."


	12. Chapter 12

No one moved a muscle as the staring contest between the man standing before them and Daryl continued in a tense silence. Beth could feel her heart beating a bruise against her rib cage as they glared at each other. She licked her lips as her fingers tightened on the hilt of her knife unsure of what to expect from this stranger. Beth felt an intense urge to say something, _anything_ , to break the tension but it seemed as though her vocal cords were suddenly not attached to the rest of her body. 

A different voice suddenly cut through the tense air from outside of the vehicle. 

"What's the problem Abraham?" 

Beth sucked in a deep breath at the sound of the voice feeling as though someone had just punched her in the stomach. She spared a surprised look at Daryl who had torn his eyes away from the man, Abraham, to stare back at her in shock at the sound. 

She knew that voice. _They_ knew that voice. 

Her knife slipped from her hands as she pushed off of the floor and slid out of the van. Beth's feet slipped in the mucked-up mud at the foot of the van and she caught herself by grabbing onto the stranger's arm. He grabbed her elbow and helped haul back to her feet, seemingly without thinking about it. 

Beth pushed away from him and half ran half slid up the muddy slope to the road ignoring the desperate sound of Sarah hissing her name from behind her. She heard the sound of someone following after her quickly and she did not have to turn around to know that it was Daryl. 

Finally making it out onto the road Beth straightened and looked to the left where she met the startled and disbelieving face of someone she thought she'd never see again. Tyresse stared at her with a look of pure shock but Beth's eyes only met his for a moment as she turned to survey the area around the two vehicles now parked on the road. It was not his voice that she had heard and if two people she knew were here than maybe the one she needed would be here too. 

Her heartbeat increased until she thought that it would burst straight out of her chest as her eyes finally landed on an equally shocked Glenn. 

A part of Beth wanted to rush towards him and fall with relief into his arms just from seeing his face but she couldn't do that, not yet. Not until she knew. A thousand questions ran through her mind but she could not seem to get her vocal cords to produce any sound other than her sister's name. 

"Maggie?!" Beth cried out as she stared at Glenn, her hands clenching into fists at her sides as though she could battle off his answer if it wasn't the one she wanted. Years seemed to pass as she waited in anticipatory fear for his reply. He, more than anyone else, had to have the answers to what had happened to her sister. 

Glenn stared at her open mouthed for a second before he rose a shaking finger to point at the other side of the truck that he was standing next to. Beth was just about to rush forwards when a slim figure stepped around it, drawn by the cry of her name. 

Beth gasped as her sister came into her line of vision, immediately shaking her head in disbelief at the sight of her. She felt as though she was still dreaming, that at any moment she was going to wake up on the floor of the van in Daryl's arms and that all of this was going to have been a vivid hallucination produced by her subconscious. 

There was no way that this could be real. After so long of searching for them how on earth could her sister possibly be right here? 

Beth was still standing there gaping at her sister when Glenn rose a finger to point at her, as speechless as she was. Maggie looked at him inquisitively before turning her head to see what had rendered him mute. Her mouth dropped open as she laid her eyes on Beth and for a moment no one seemed to move, or even breathe. 

Then with a startled cry that somewhat resembled Beth's name Maggie stumbled forward, pulling Beth tightly into her arms the moment she was within reach. Her own arms felt numb with shock as Beth lifted them to wrap around her sister's back. She felt water hit her shoulder and for a moment Beth wondered if it was raining again before she realized her sister was shedding tears against her shoulder. Almost as one it seemed that neither of their legs could hold them up and they slowly sank down onto the dirty road, arms still wrapped tight around each other. 

Beth lifted her head from Maggie's shoulder in time to see a laughing Rick grab Daryl and pull him into a hug that looked almost as tight as the one she was being held in now. Beth met Daryl's eye from across the distance and they shared a look of complete disbelief as Maggie turned her head and pressed a kiss against Beth's cheek. 

"You're alive Bethy." her sister whispered almost reverently as her tears dripped softly against Beth's skin. A small part of Beth wondered why she herself was not crying until she realized that it was likely just the shock she was no doubt in. 

She saw Rick let go of Daryl only for Glenn to pull him into a hug as well. Everyone shared the same expression of total disbelieving joy as Glenn let go of Daryl to turn and look at the two sisters on the ground, seeming unsure if he would be a welcome addition or not. Beth smiled and moved one of her arms to hold her hand out to him. He smiled and approached them quickly, taking her hand in his as he sunk down to wrap his arms around both her and her sister. 

"Good to see you Beth." he smiled, as though it had been mere hours since they last saw each other and not the years it felt like it had been. 

Beth let out a startled laugh as she rested her head on his shoulder, finally allowing herself to realize that this was real. Her sister was really here. Her family was finally together again. 

Maggie pulled away then with a smile, tucking a strand of hair behind Beth's ear. 

"You're here." her eyes were wide with unbridled joy that Beth shared as she tightened her hold on her. 

"You're here." Beth returned with a smile. Their embrace lasted a moment longer until Maggie finally let go of her with a small laugh, wiping at the tears still shining on her face. Glenn stood and helped pull both of them to their feet. 

Her eyes somehow still dry Beth took in the sight of the faces of people she thought she would never see again, opening her arms to allow each of them to hug her. She honestly did not quite believe that each of them were real until they were in her arms. 

Michonne clung to her tightly for a moment before pulling away and cupping Beth's face in her hands slightly. 

"Always knew you two made it." she whispered as she pulled away to hug Daryl who was wearing the same shell-shocked expression Beth knew that she was. 

Carl, who had grown taller in their separation hugged her with a wide grin. She saw Daryl tap on the sheriff hat he always wore before pulling him to his chest tightly. 

Sasha, Bob, Tyresse. They all held her and felt so solid in her arms that Beth finally began to feel the pinpricks of tears in the back of her eyes. She allowed herself to look behind her once at the truck they had spent the night in where her new friends watched in joyful silence for them as they reunited with their family. 

Carol held her as tightly to her body as though she was her own daughter. Beth wrapped her arms around her and clung to her for a moment in silence. "I'm so glad you're safe." Carol whispered as she moved to hug Daryl close, whispering the same thing to him. 

Their hugs all completed the group stood and stared at each other in a stunned yet joyous silence which was broken by Carl. 

"Where have you two been?" he asked as he looked back and forth between them and the people in the truck behind them curiously. Beth looked at the two battered vehicles on the road and the few strangers that were hanging back to watch their reunion from the sidelines, wondering exactly the same thing. 

"Bit of a long story." Daryl said as he and Beth shared a loaded look. She smiled at his understatement as Maggie took her hand in hers. 

"Have you all been together this whole time?" Beth asked, trying to hide her jealousy as she looked at the group around her. As much as she loved Daryl and all they had built together she could not lie to herself that she would not have wanted to be with others the whole time as well. Not knowing what had happened to any of them had nearly killed both her and Daryl. 

Maggie shook her head, opening her mouth to explain when the sound of a child crying came from the van parked behind the pickup. 

Beth turned to look at Daryl so fast her neck cracked and he stared back at her with an equal expression of extreme disbelief. 

"Guess all the excitement must have woken her up." Rick said, patting Daryl on the shoulder as he headed towards the van. 

"Judith?" Daryl asked, swallowing hard as he took a small step after him. 

Rick looked over his shoulder at the pair of them in surprise before smiling widely. "She's alive." 

Beth and Daryl followed after Rick slowly, Beth reaching over to clutch Daryl's arm as Rick slid open the van door and reached inside. There were a few tense seconds as he fumbled with something but then he stepped back outside carefully, holding a now quiet Judith in his arms. He walked over towards them and held her out to them without question seeming to know exactly what they needed in that moment. 

Beth felt her hands shaking too much to take her so Daryl quietly took the child into his arms. 

"Hey Little Ass-kicker." he whispered reverently as he looked down at Judith who smiled up at him widely. 

A small whimper escaped Beth's lips as she rose her hand to Judith's who reached up and took Beth's finger in her palm as a laugh of happiness escaped past her lips. 

Everything suddenly hit Beth at once. The fact that everyone she thought was dead was not just alive but here, now, with them. The tears that she had been waiting for since she heard Glenn's voice suddenly hit her hard and a sob escaped her lips as she felt her legs begin to give out again as the weight of everything suddenly hit her. 

Daryl caught Beth one armed around the waist and helped ease her to the ground, kneeling next to her in the dirt as she curled against his side, both of them now holding Judith as Beth began to cry. 

It took a while for everyone to calm down from the shock and excitement of their sudden reunion and it took even longer for Beth to stop crying. Daryl attributed at least part of her sudden resemblance to a leaking faucet to the pregnancy hormones because he had never seen her cry like that when she was happy. Honestly though he almost felt like joining her. No matter how long he stared at everyone's all too familiar faces he still felt as though none of this was actually happening. He had long since stopped believing that they would ever actually find even one person from the prison so seeing all of them at once nearly dropped him to the ground with surprise. 

The shock had him and nearly everyone else so far out of their senses that none of them even considered the danger they were putting themselves in from their exuberant reunion until a man with a mullet suggested that they get off of the road before they drew any more attention to themselves. At that point Daryl was just helping a still teary-eyed Beth off of the ground and he had to agree it was probably for the best. They had made far too much noise in their jubilation; this section of road would not be clear for very much longer. 

As such their small band of survivors joined with the much larger one inside of the cramped vehicles. None of the Winston group even protested when the others began to drive in the very direction that they had just come from. Daryl had ended up in the bed of the pickup truck sandwiched between Michonne and Beth and across from Maggie and Glenn who could not seem to stop smiling. The noise of the trunk drowned out any attempt at conversation so they all spent the drive staring at each other in dismay. 

The ride only lasted for roughly twenty minutes before Abraham pulled into the lot of an extremely rundown motel. For a second Daryl wondered how they had managed to miss seeing it the night before but when he thought about what might have happened had they not spent the night in that truck he found he no longer cared. It was well worth the stiff feeling in his body to be back together with his family. 

The cleaning sweep of the motel felt more normal to Daryl than anything he had done in a long time. These people knew his hand signals, they knew how to have each other's backs. He never once worried about turning his back on one of them because he knew that they would not put a knife in it. The sweep went by much faster with this group than any Daryl had done in a while. 

The motel cleared out of walkers, all twenty of them filed into one small room, everyone immediately trying to grab a spot on one of the two beds or the rickety chair in the corner. Daryl and Beth entered last and as such grabbed one of the short straws of having to sit on the floor. Seating arrangements were the last thing on Daryl's mind however as he sank down next to Beth and surveyed the people around them. 

For a moment no one spoke, it seemed as though no one truly knew where to begin. Finally, Tyresse leaned forward and clasped his hands across his legs. 

"Do you two want to go first or should we?" he asked curiously, everyone eager to know what had led everybody else to be on that small slice of road at that exact moment. 

Daryl turned his head to look at Beth who stared at him with wide eyes. In that moment everything they had been through suddenly hit him like a wall and he shook his head quickly. He was not quite ready to relive all of their memories. Nor, if he was being completely honest, was he ready to tell their friends that they were married and expecting a child. It wasn't that he thought that they would be upset or judgmental of them or that he wanted to keep Beth and him a secret. Daryl just did not want them to worry about Beth just yet, they had all only now been reunited. He wanted to give everyone at least a few more minutes of peace before the anxiety sank in. 

Beth smiled at him as she nodded, squeezing his hand tightly before looking at the others. Even though Daryl knew that no one else could see their hands due to the positioning of their bodies he still felt a sudden irrational urge to blush. He was used to touching and being touched by Beth in front of people who knew about them but none of them were her sister. Daryl was sure that Maggie was going to figure out that there was something going on between them before they even said anything themselves just by the way that he knew they looked at each other. Daryl supposed that it might actually be better that way if she had some time to get used to the idea. Might help lower the shock of it all. 

"There's so many more of you. Your story is likely to be much longer so why don't you start?" Beth suggested as she let go of Daryl's hand and drew her legs to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. Her large shirt was pulled tight at the motion and for a moment Daryl saw the hint of the baby bump in her stomach before Sasha began to speak, effectively pulling his gaze away from his wife and back towards the group. 

"We didn't all get out together." she began as everyone who did not already know the story began to lean forward in anticipation of their tale. Sarah, Luke, Molly and Roland did not know all of their back story but they knew enough to understand that whatever had happened to these people had led to Daryl and Beth giving them up for either dead or gone. They looked just as curious as everyone else in the room. 

Sasha went on to explain the small groups that had gotten out together or met up soon after the prison was overrun. Her, Bob and Maggie. Tyresse, Lizzie, Mika, Judith and Carol. Michonne, Carl and Rick. Glenn, Tara, Eugene, Rosita, and Abraham. 

Others began to tell their own parts of what had happened to them. Tyresse very quickly told them that Lizzie and Mika were dead. He did not go into very much detail but Daryl did notice that he exchanged a very heavy look with Carol. All of their stories had one very common element to it. 

They had all headed to Terminus. 

"Where were all the signs?" Beth asked curiously as she leaned forward, as though being closer to the people telling the story would make it easier for her to hear. 

"They were all down the railroad tracks." Maggie explained as she peered in surprise at her sister. "You really never saw one?" 

Beth shook her head mutely as Daryl admitted what they were both thinking. "We found some bodies by the tracks first few days after. Didn't go near the tracks again." He felt a twinge of guilt at this admission. If he and Beth had just been brave enough to keep going in that direction would they have had this reunion that much sooner? 

"That's probably a good thing." Bob sighed as the group continued with the story. It did not take long for Daryl to agree with that statement. 

It seemed that while Beth and him spent the winter in the relative safety of an isolated farmhouse nearly all of their family spent it locked in a train car by a group of people who had intended to use them for food. No one asked how the group knew that was what their intention was, it was plain from their faces that they knew it to be true. 

They had only managed to escape, mostly uninjured, due to what Daryl put down to severe dumb luck. The train car they were in was not locked from the outside, it simply had a sniper pointed on the doors at all times. After what everyone assumed was a little over a week (although there was some arguing on the exact number of days) they had eased open the door as they did every day to be greeted only by silence. There was not the usual sound of bullets ricocheting off of the side of the train. For whatever reason the sniper was not watching them at that moment. 

Rick and Glenn had used this moment to slip out of the train car and over the fences behind them into the woods. Before entering Terminus, Rick had buried a bag of guns outside of it, a severe lack of trust that ended up saving everyone in the cars life. 

They had returned with the weapons to the car, shooting the now in place sniper down before they approached. Now armed, and far more dangerous than anyone in Terminus was likely expecting, they managed to escape virtually unhurt. 

The same could not be said of Terminus's residents. 

No one wanted to go into very much detail about what had happened in their shootout, Michonne simply said that it was a 'bloodbath'. A few of them had gotten shot in the process, the worst being Abraham who took a bullet in the thigh and one in the side leaving him unfit for travel for a few months. Sasha told them all proudly that if it had not been for Bob's medical background Abraham would have very likely died that day. 

Carol and Tyresse had been traveling to Terminus with Judith at this same time, they had been around the outskirts of the camp on a day when there was a severe amount of gunfire. No one knew if it was from the day that Rick, Carl and Michonne were herded into the train car or if it was from the day of the bloodbath. Either way Carol and Tyresse had had no way of knowing that it was their friends involved and so they had turned around and left. 

They had traveled around aimlessly, not really knowing who to look for or where to try. One night they ran into a strange couple who asked them to give Judith over to them for 'safekeeping'. When they refused, they were knocked unconscious, awakening to find Judith gone. They were still hunting for her when the others had found them. 

While Beth and him were just learning about the pregnancy and joining up with the people still with them now to chase down the dream of their own sanctuary their friends were in the middle of hunting down a child. Daryl had not realized before how relatively easy his and Beth's journey had been when compared to the others. 

Judith was found unharmed of course, as well as several other children. They helped the children return to their own camps before moving on again, to a destination no one had yet stated, Daryl did not want to interrupt them to find out where it was they were all planning on going, he knew that they would tell him eventually. He felt a bit guilty that while they were busy reuniting lost children with their families, he was simply keeping watch on a fence to a town he thought would be where he rose his own family. 

"We'd been on the road again for about a week when we saw the sign." Rick informed them, his eyes staring at them in the intense look Daryl had forgotten he had. 

Clearly the mention of a sign was supposed to mean something to Beth and him. Daryl's brow crinkled in thought as he tried to think of what he could be talking about. 

"It was how I knew you were alive." Maggie whispered, bringing to the forefront of Daryl's memory the metal billboard he and Beth had written their names on under the single word 'alive'. "I saw that sign and I just knew you two were still out there." 

"We kept looking for you for a while. Scanned the area for a few weeks." Carol said as she peered at them intently. "I don't know how we missed you." 

Daryl shook his head in surprise, when he had them write their names there it had only been to help give Beth some hope. He had wanted to leave a marker that at one point they had existed, he had never truly thought anyone they knew would see their names there and feel that hope as well. 

He was pulled from his thoughts as Beth whispered. "We didn't stay by the sign." 

"So where have the two of you been?" Carl asked as he stretched out on his stomach and stared at the two of them expectantly, clearly eagerly awaiting their own tale. 

Beth opened her mouth to begin but Molly cut her off before she could say a word. 

"Wait where are you all going?" she raised her eyebrow in question and Daryl felt himself nodding along. He had been wondering why the group had kept pushing on instead of trying to find a safe place. 

"DC." Rosita said as she leaned back against Abraham's wide chest. 

Daryl felt his eyebrows raise in surprise and he turned to look at Beth who stared at him with an equal expression of wry disbelief. 

"How ironic. That's where Daryl and Beth were originally planning on going when we ran into each other." Sarah said conversationally as she helped Roland fish one of his cars out from where it had rolled under the bed. 

"You guys were going to DC?" Glenn asked in surprise as he looked over at them. "Why?" 

Beth shifted uncomfortably, clearly not wanting to tell them she had picked their destination because of a spoon. Daryl opened his mouth to ask them why they were so intent on getting to DC when the other new girl, Tara, spoke. 

"Why didn't you keep going?" she asked from where she sat on the floor near the door. 

Daryl and Beth exchanged a loaded look, both knowing that now was the time to tell them. He was just fishing for the words to best explain when Roland cried out happily. 

"They wanted to find a doctor for the baby!" 

If it was possible for silence to be loud than the motel room was suddenly deafening. Daryl shifted uneasily next to Beth and she felt her face begin to heat up with a blush as everyone simply stared at them in disbelief. While Roland was correct in his statement Beth quietly wished that he would not have said anything. There were doubtlessly easier ways to break this news to her family. 

"I'm sorry." Maggie said slowly as she tilted her head to peer at Beth. "I think I misunderstood that." 

Beth grimaced at her calm tone and caught Daryl's eye, surprised to find that he looked even more nervous than she did at the moment. 

"Um no you didn't." Beth whispered, her voice cracking on the last word in her nerves. 

The silence continued for another second until suddenly everyone realized what she meant and seemed to recover their voices at once, and all of them had something to say. 

"Are you serious?" Glenn cried out as he cast a fearful yet strangely hopeful look at Maggie. 

"Did you plan this?" Carol asked nervously as she cast a look between Beth and Daryl who sat in an uncomfortable silence as they let everyone have their reactions. 

"You'll be a good mom. You were great with Judith." Tyresse said as he smiled softly at Beth who managed to find a split second to smile back at him in gratitude before someone else started talking. 

"That was a dumb move." Michonne said with a sigh as she shook her head at them, a look of pain crossing her features. 

"Congratulations." Bob told them, his voice telling her that he truly meant it but he immediately looked uneasy as he realized no one else seemed to have the same reaction. 

"You risked a pregnancy after what happened to." Rick had to take a deep breath before he could get the name of his wife to exit his mouth. "Lori?" 

She felt Daryl's muscles tighten at that statement and reflexively reached over to grab his arm. Beth felt like that wasn't a fair statement, they thought of Lori every day. But she knew that Rick didn't have a way of knowing that so she kept quiet. 

"Bethy I don't know what to say." Maggie shook her head as she stared into the eyes of her younger sister. "Is this something you wanted?" 

Beth opened her mouth to reassure everyone that while neither her nor Daryl had planned for the child now growing inside of her both of them were happy for it. Having a child was not going to be easy in this world but she had always wanted to be a mom. She was still in awe that she was going to get the chance to be one. 

"Wait." Rosita interrupted suddenly, holding up a hand as she cast a look between Daryl and Luke. "Who's the father?" 

Luke suddenly started laughing as Beth's blush deepened. She knew it was a valid question but she was hoping they would get to explain their story before someone thought to actually ask it. 

Daryl sighed and stretched his legs out in front of him. "I am." 

The room was suddenly silent again as Luke struggled to get his laughter under control. Judging from the expressions on people's faces not all of them had come to that conclusion yet. It seemed that Roland's statement had been a bit too vague for them to fully comprehend what he had meant. 

Maggie was now staring at them opened mouthed as Beth reached over to take Daryl's hand, wondering what would be the easiest way to diffuse this awkwardness. 

"I suppose we have a lot to tell you." she whispered as Glenn snorted. 

"You're the father?" Maggie asked breathlessly, Daryl's grip tightened on Beth's hand as he tensed, clearly expecting a blow up. 

Beth nodded slowly, swallowing hard as her sister stared at them blank faced. 

"Um congratulations?" Eugene said awkwardly as he looked around the room at all of the people who looked like they had just been hit over the head with something heavy. 

"I'm sorry but" Sarah started, her brow crinkled as she waved a finger between Daryl and Beth before looking back at the prison survivors. "You didn't know that they were a couple?" 

The surprised expressions were clearly a tell enough because Luke let out a low whistle before giving Daryl a pitiful glance as Sarah winced and shook her head, her face showing the nerves she felt for them at the moment. 

"Maybe you two should just start at the beginning." Rick said softly as he looked down at Judith in his arm, his mind still clearly locked on Lori. Beth felt a twinge of guilt for causing him to remember her so painfully. 

Beth heard Daryl suck in a deep breath and she squeezed his hand tightly before quickly launching into their story. She figured the quicker that they told it, the sooner everyone would calm down and adjust to the news. As it was some of them were already looking between the two of them with knowing expressions having already accepted the truth. 

"We got out together. We spent a few weeks trying to track others down but the trails ran cold. When we didn't find anybody we eventually just gave up." Beth bit her lip and suddenly found herself unable to look anyone in the eye. Telling someone you love that you gave up on them was much harder to do than she had anticipated. 

"We headed out of Georgia." Daryl spoke quietly as he looked up at the rest of the people, a look of clear discomfort on his face. He had never enjoyed being the center of attention and the two of them had now captured every eye in the room. "Spent the winter at this farm house in South Carolina." 

Beth and him shared an awkward look as they both tried to figure out how to best explain that they started to have sex in that farmhouse, that that was where their relationship truly began to take its form. "That'swhenwebecameacouple." Beth rushed out in a breath, feeling herself blush even harder when Michonne tried to disguise a laugh with a cough at her phrasing. 

"Some people came and we left." she continued, pointedly ignoring the knowing looks everyone was giving them now. They already knew that she was pregnant so of course they knew that the two of them had had sex but it still didn't make it any easier for her to allude to it out loud. 

"Spent a while on the road before deciding to go to DC. Eventually we ran into these guys." Daryl nodded towards the area where Sarah, Roland and Luke sat. 

"We'd just found out that I was pregnant so when they said that they were heading to a safe place rumored to have a doctor we went with them." Beth shrugged and gave Sarah a small smile. "There had been another person with us, Oliver." Roland turned to wrap his arms around his mother who shushed him and rubbed his back as he began to shake. Beth blinked back tears of her own at the sight. She felt bad for upsetting him but she just couldn't stand the idea of not mentioning Ollie. Just because he was gone now didn't mean that he wasn't important to them. 

"We were there for a couple of months." Daryl swallowed hard at the memory of the terror that had been that day. "A horde destroyed it. Oliver didn't make it out" his voice suddenly dropped a decibel. "A lot of people didn't make it out." Beth squeezed his hand sure that he was replaying the memory of the fall in his head again. She knew the freshness of it still stung, at nights her dreams were sometimes taken over by it but in those she usually never made it over the fence or she found Daryl's body. The only thing that could calm her racing heart when she woke up was seeing Daryl right next to her. 

"While we were there though." Beth started before biting her lip and simply holding out her left hand where the small simple ring rested on her third finger. 

Maggie gasped and rose her own left hand to her mouth. One of the girls that they had just met, Beth wasn't sure which, made an 'aw' sound. Bob let out a low whistle before he cast a quick look at Sasha who caught it and nudged his shoulder with a frown that turned into a small smile the second he looked away. Rick finally had a flash of happiness cross his face at their news. Carol smiled at them joyfully at the sight. 

"Big risk there Beth." Michonne said shaking her head sadly. Beth glanced over at her in surprise. "You know there's a no return policy these days." her lips quirked upwards in a smile that Beth was quick to return and she saw Daryl roll his eyes, but a small smile crossed his lips briefly as he did so. 

"And then what happened?" Carl asked eagerly, clearly having had enough of the romantic talk. 

"Oh." Beth's brow crinkled as she thought back into where they were in their story. "Then we decided that we needed somewhere safe to go and I suggested that we go back to daddy's farm." Maggie blinked at that, looking as though the idea of doing such had never once occurred to her. 

"We'd been on the road a few days when we ran into you." Daryl shrugged before leaning back against the TV stand behind them, clearly much more relaxed now that it was all out in the open and no one had actually yelled at them yet. 

Everyone seemed to be digesting all of this for a moment and Beth shifted uneasily at their silence. 

"I never would have thought you two would be a couple." Tyresse admitted with a laugh as he shook his head. "Congratulations. Both of you." he told them as he stared at them intently. Daryl gave him the small nod of respect Beth so rarely saw him do these days. 

Rick ran a hand over his face before casting them a still worried smile. "I'm glad you two have each other." Daryl bit his lip and gave the small nod again while Beth smiled sadly at him. She knew that while Rick was still so haunted by Lori's memory that was the best reaction that they could hope for. 

"Yea I gotta say I didn't see this one coming." Glenn said with a laugh before leaning forward to close the small foot of space between them. He pulled Beth into a quick hug before clasping Daryl's hand. "Now we're even more of a family." 

Everyone seemed to have recovered from their surprise enough to grow used to the fact that Beth and Daryl were a married couple expecting a child. They told them congratulations while laughing at the fact that none of them had ever once considered the two of them would ever be a couple. Beth found she wasn't offended by this in the slightest, she had never thought of it before they fled together either. 

Finally, it seemed that everyone had congratulated them, or come as close to that as they could manage, except for the person whose reaction Beth truly needed. Maggie sat staring at the two of them from her spot mere feet away but that at that moment the distance between them felt much larger. Finally, unable to take the silence anymore Beth whispered her sister's name. 

"Please say something." she pleaded as she wrapped her arms around her stomach. Beth didn't know if she would be able to handle being reunited with her sister only to have her grow angry or ashamed of her mere hours after their reunion. 

Maggie looked at them in silence for another minute before she licked her lips. "Are you happy?" she asked quietly as everyone in the room tried to busy themselves by looking the other way in an attempt to give them some vague idea of privacy. "Are both of you happy?" 

Beth nodded hurriedly and she saw Daryl do the same next to her as he slipped his hand into hers. She felt like she should do some big soliloquy about how without Daryl she wouldn't have likely made it this far and how he probably wouldn't have either. And even if their bodies had she wasn't sure that their humanity would have if either of them had been left alone after the fall. It was more than just that however. They made each other into better, stronger, people. While they might not have ever found that in each other if they had not had to go through the terror and hardships of being on the road together finding their love like that only made it more real. Their love was like steel, being fortified in the fire only made it stronger. Beth couldn't seem to get any of that out so she simply whispered. "Yes." 

Maggie nodded. "Then I'm happy for you." she returned before sliding over to them and wrapping both of them into her arms. 

The news of his and Beth's marriage and the pregnancy took a little while to sink in. After a few minutes of shock, the group decided to split up to search the rooms of the motel for any supplies, reminding Daryl of the time Beth was hurt and they sheltered themselves in a motel very much like this one. 

They managed to procure more supplies from this one however, which was lucky considering how many of them there were. Daryl had ended up hunting out a room with Maggie, who cast him looks from the corner of her eye as they waited to see if anything would come to the door of the room they had just knocked on. 

Daryl shifted his crossbow to gain a better grip on it, mostly just to give his hands something to do as he tried to ignore the awkward feeling of being alone with Beth's sister so soon after giving her the news. He hoped the feeling would pass quickly, he had never felt awkward around Maggie before and he did not want to start now. 

Nothing came to the door so Maggie slowly eased it open, Daryl's bow up and held ready to let fire. Nothing approached them and they entered the room slowly, both immediately gagging and covering their mouths at the perverse stench filling the room. 

Two bodies lay peacefully on the beds, or as peacefully as a corpse could be with brains blown back against the walls and bodies rotted down. Daryl adverted his eyes quickly as Maggie and him began to ransack all of the drawers and cupboards. After finding what they could that was worth taking they left the room as quickly as possible, both of them sucking in deep breathes of fresh air in relief as Daryl shut the door behind them. 

For a moment they both stood in silence, trying to regain their breath after holding it for so long within the room. Daryl turned to head back to the room where they all planned to regroup when the sound of Maggie saying his name stopped him. He looked at her over his shoulder, cursing himself for feeling so nervous. It wasn't like her not approving of him and Beth would change anything between the two of them, and she had already told them that she was happy for them so why did he still feel so apprehensive? 

Maggie licked her lips and looked back out across the parking lot before taking a deep breath and facing him again, her eyes fierce in their hold on his. "Thank you." she whispered, causing Daryl to blink at her in surprise, that wasn't something he had been expecting her to say. "For looking out for Beth when I..." she shook her head and paused for a moment, clearly trying to think of the words to say what she felt the need to say. Daryl turned around to face her completely. 

"I spent a long time worried that she was out there alone." Maggie whispered, crossing her arms over her chest tightly. "And Beth is tough but she's not that tough. I think she would have died out there if she was alone. So, thank you. For being there for her when I couldn't." Maggie nodded, seeming to put an end to their conversation as she walked up and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before walking around him to head to the room where her sister waited with Roland. 

"You're wrong." Daryl called out softly causing Maggie to stop and glance back at him. He stared at her defensively. "Beth is that tough. I may have looked after her but." he shrugged, uncomfortable discussing this with, well, anyone. "She was there for me too." 

For a moment neither him nor Maggie moved, they simply stared at each other as a few of the others excited the motel rooms, what little they managed to find in their hands. A smile bloomed across Maggie's face then as she nodded. 

"You really are good for each other." she whispered before turning back and heading into the motel room. Daryl followed after her slowly, certain that Beth and him had officially gotten her big sister's seal of approval. 

Once everyone had returned from their sweep of the motel Carol and Rosita went to work inventorying their supplies as the others began to pack it up into the bags they had lifted as well. Daryl still felt a small trill of surprise as he looked at people, still in awe of their reunion. 

"We need to load these into the van." Sasha said as she lifted a bag into her arms. "We should clear out the pickup to make more room. It's easier to fit more people in the bed than shove everyone into the van." 

"Are you still heading to DC?" Sarah asked in surprise as Sasha headed out the door. 

"We have to." Carol said softly as she finished counting out the cans of food they'd found. 

"Why? What's so important there?" Molly demanded as she crossed her arms across her chest. Daryl had been wondering very much the same question, and he saw Beth nodding along as well, they just hadn't found an opportune moment to ask it. 

"Eugene's a scientist. He knows what caused all of this and thinks that he can find a cure." Rick informed them as he wiped dirt off of his brow. Daryl felt a small quiver of hope, if this could all be cured did that mean that all of this could one day be over? That Beth and him might one day be able to let their child play outside without being afraid it was laughing too loudly? 

"So, what caused it?" Luke asked curiously. 

"It's classified." Eugene drawled immediately, causing Daryl to roll his eyes. Of course, his friends would decide to help these people on that little of information. Although truth be told, he was willing to help them for that little as well. If there was any chance that this shit could get cleared up, he was going to take it. 

"Classified for who?" Molly asked with a dry laugh, but she shook her head clearly not expecting an answer. 

"DC is overrun." Sarah said softly as she stared down at the floor where Roland was making his cars race each other. "We came from Richmond, a few hours out of the capitol. It was crawling with walkers when we left." she shook her head slowly before looking back at the other's with wide eyes. "You won't make it in alive." 

"It'll be dangerous." Glenn agreed as he looked at everyone in the room. "But we've dealt with worse." 

"She has a point." Michonne agreed as she played with the hilt of her katana idly, an unreadable look in her eyes. "Might not be the best place to try to have a baby." 

Daryl stared at her in surprise, surely she wasn't suggesting that Beth and him not join them? After all the trouble it had taken for them to run into each other, she just wanted them to separate so quickly? 

"I'm not leaving you again." Beth spoke, her tone as fierce as the expression on her face as she looked at everyone. Daryl nodding consent quickly. 

"Ain't no way in hell." he agreed as Rick held up his hands to hold them off. 

"We're not asking you too." he assured them as Michonne looked away from the two of them. Daryl didn't truly think she wanted them to separate, that she was just looking out for Beth but her comment still stung. "But this will be dangerous." Rick continued as he looked intently into the faces of the people new to this group. "If you don't want to join us, we understand." 

There was a beat of silence as everyone waited to see what the others would do. Beth reached over and slipped her hand into Daryl's, her grip tightening with nerves as the silence stretched on, their friends clearly needing the time to think over this dangerous choice. 

"Well." Molly said with a sigh as she dropped her hands to her sides and shrugged. "Already told you once I'm not leaving you." 

Daryl let out the breath he hadn't realized that he had been holding as he nodded at her in relief. 

"Thank you." Beth whispered gratefully, causing Molly to roll her eyes and look away from them although a small smile crossed her face. Daryl waited anxiously for the other three to make their choice. He hadn't known these people for more than a few months but these days knowing someone for more than a week practically made them family. They had been traveling together for much longer than that, had gone through terrible and fantastic things together. 

He didn't know if he was ready to say good-bye to them just yet. 

Roland rose to his knees and stared at his mom with bright eyes. "I want to stay with Beth." he said, more intently than Daryl had ever heard a child speak. "And with Daryl." 

Sarah bit her lip as she stared down at her son, reaching over to brush a chunk of hair from his face. She cupped his face in her palm before shaking her head, so minutely that for a moment Daryl thought he hadn't actually seen it. She turned then to stare at him and Beth with wide eyes, now filling with tears. 

"I can't." she admitted, her voice thick with emotion. Beth's grip tightened on Daryl's hand as she sucked in a startled breath. "I can't put my son through that." she spoke louder to be heard above Roland's immediate protests. "We barely got out alive last time. I won't risk that again." 

She shook her head as a flash of pain crossed her features. Daryl nodded at her, while it stung, he could not deny that he understood her reasoning to want to protect her child. He did not truly want to take Beth and their forming child into DC but what choice did they have? They weren't going to leave their family and he knew better than try to suggest Beth go with Sarah. Even if she would consent to leaving him and her sister, he wouldn't be able to bear being separated from her. And if there was any chance that Eugene could really help find a cure, then they had to take it. For everyone. 

"Maybe." Sarah took a deep breath as she pulled a now crying Roland into her arms. He struggled away from her before darting to Beth, who bent down in time to catch him into her arms, his small arms wrapping tight around her neck. Sarah looked at the two of them with pain in her eyes. "Maybe we could go to your farm still." she whispered as she quickly wiped away a tear from her own eyes. "That way when all of this is over, you can still find us." 

Beth nodded quickly as she tried to shush Roland's cries. "Of course." Daryl saw Maggie nod along from the corner of his eye as she watched in silence. 

Daryl helped ease the child off of Beth, surprised when he immediately turned and began to hug him just as tightly. Daryl tried to loosen the child's fierce grip on his neck, unsure of how Beth had been able to breath. She sat down at the small desk and began to draw Sarah a map as Tyresse separated out a small bag of supplies for them. 

As they worked on this the others began to ready their vehicles to move, Abraham wanting to cover at least some ground that day. Bob and Tara went out to look for a working car as the others worked. Through this all Luke stood by the sidelines, a torn expression on his face. 

Car found and loaded everyone exited the motel room, the people from the prison heading into their vehicles to give them all a moment of privacy. 

"Well." Molly said as she shifted her feet awkwardly. "Good luck." she stepped forward quickly to kiss both Roland and Sarah on the cheek. 

"You too." Sarah whispered as Roland whimpered into her shoulder. She blinked tears back as she straightened up to look at the four of them. "Take care of them. And when that baby comes you give it a big kiss for us." 

"I will." Beth agreed as Daryl nodded, his throat feeling strangely dry. 

"This isn't good-bye." Sarah whispered reassuringly as she ran her hand over Roland's hair. 

"You're right, it's not." Luke said softly, finally speaking for the first time since Sarah announced her plan for departure. Luke looked at her intently, his gaze so sincere Daryl suddenly felt the need to look away. "You can't protect him all the time by yourself." 

Sarah stared at him in surprise as Roland lifted his head from her shoulder to look at Luke. "You want to come with us?" she breathed in surprise. 

Luke gave her a small grin. "Well since you asked so nicely, sure. Why not?" 

Daryl sighed as he shoved his hands into his pockets, feeling as though he should have expected that. Sarah stepped forward to pull Luke into a one-armed hug and Daryl heard her whisper a thank you as Luke softly kissed her forehead, ruffling Roland's hair. 

The three of them turned back to face the others as it truly dawned on them all that this was it. They were leaving. 

"Well you I won't miss." Molly said with a grin as she walked forward to offer Luke a handshake, the smile on her face lightening her words. "See you on the other side." She gave the three of them one last nod before she took a deep breath and walked quickly to the pickup, her head down. 

The five of them stood in silence before Beth rushed forwards to pull Roland and Sarah into a hug. 

"Thank you. For everything." Sarah whispered softly, Daryl barely able to hear her as he stepped forward to shake Luke's hand, only half surprised when the man pulled him into a tight hug instead. 

"The farm draws water from wells. Make sure they're clean before you use them though." Beth said as she pulled away and kissed Roland softly on the head. "In my room there should be an old teddy bear. Keep him company for me, won't you?" Roland nodded as tears dripped down his face and he slung his arms around Beth's neck again. 

"I'll miss you." he sobbed as Beth rubbed his back softly. 

"Me too." She pulled away from him then, switching places with Daryl to hug Luke. Daryl held Sarah and Roland briefly before pulling away as Sarah whispered. 

"You'll be a great father Daryl." 

He simply patted her on the shoulder before rubbing Roland's hair. "Look after your mom." The child nodded at him, tears leaving streaks in the dirt on his face. 

Beth stepped back to stand next to him and for a moment none of them said anything, simply staring at each other as they thought back over everything they had been through together. Daryl couldn't remember the last time he had said good-bye to someone because they wanted to leave, not because they had been forced to. The idea that he would still know people out there that weren't with him felt strange. 

"This isn't good-bye." Sarah repeated before she blinked and turned around, heading quickly to the car as Roland watched them from over her shoulder. Luke walked close to pat both him and Beth on the shoulder. 

"Good luck lovebirds" he joked, as a wide smile suddenly split across his face. "If you have a boy you should name him after me." 

Beth smiled, shaking her head, as Daryl reached up to slap Luke on the back. "Not a chance in hell." 

Luke laughed his deep belly laugh as he turned away from them and walked to the car. Placing his hand on Beth's lower back Daryl led her to the pickup, where he clamored up first to help her up. They sat at the end, Beth between his legs and leaning back against his chest as Carl hit the roof of the truck to tell Abraham to drive. 

Taking a deep breath Daryl turned his head to watch as the small white car drove off in the opposite direction, Roland's small form waving wildly from the back window. Daryl rose his own hand in good-bye and saw Beth do the same. The car soon out of their sight Daryl wound his fingers through Beth's as they headed in silence towards whatever dangers DC would hold.


	13. Chapter 13

The sudden jolt of the truck going over a curb tore Beth from slumber. She rose her head off of Daryl's shoulder and blinked in the late afternoon sunshine, raising a hand to her eyes to rub the sleep from them as she tried to regain her bearings. Ever since they had been reunited with their family, she had found it increasingly harder to fall asleep at night, certain that when she awoke the whole thing would have all just been a dream. 

Beth did not know if she could bear losing them again. 

The truck began to slow and Beth looked up in surprise to see that they were pulling into a broken-down gas station off the edge of the highway. Not too far in the distance she could see the tops of buildings and she knew that they were starting to get to the point where all too soon the relative safety of back highways and roads would end. They were nearing the state line of North Carolina and Virgina now, having made good time with more people and no severe interruptions. The less distance between them and DC the more peculiar Eugene seemed to become, withdrawing into himself and deflecting everyone's concerned questions about what they should plan to do once they entered the city. Beth put it down to his nerves, she could not imagine the pressure he felt. Likely being the only person in the whole world who thought that they could fix this, to return everything to normal, the pressure of that had to be unbearable. Eugene had a lot riding on his shoulders, Beth did not envy his position. 

The truck slowed to a stop and Glenn hopped out over the side. Beth heard the opening of a van door and knew that Rick was out to join him, weapons ready as they began to scan the area. Daryl was quick to follow them, sparing Beth a quick glance before he jumped over the side of the truck bed to help. 

Beth and Daryl had developed a strict policy of not saying anything when he left to scout areas. In these uncharted territories they never had any idea of the danger they were all walking into. Neither wanted whatever they said to end up being the last thing so they acted as though his return was inevitable. Which so far it had been. They had yet to lose someone on this trip, although they did have a fairly close call the other day when a walker managed to grab a hold of Tyresse's shirt, its lip-less mouth snapping as it tried to pull him closer. One quick slice from Michonne's katana had ended that problem, and the walker's reanimation, fairly quickly. 

No, neither Beth nor Daryl wanted to acknowledge how quickly either of their lives could end out here. So, he went out to scout without a word and Beth bit her nails to stubs in the truck bed as she waited with the others for the signal, her heart in her throat the whole time. She would have gladly gone out there to help him but no one, Daryl most of all, would hear of it. Hers was not the only life that would be in danger if she did that after all. 

Soon a sharp two note whistle was heard and everyone scrambled from their vehicles to see what they would be able to scavenge from the dilapidated building and few rusted cars. Beth carefully avoided a large pile of broken glass as she headed towards the closest parked car, sitting rusted in an abandoned and overgrown field. The clattering of their red plastic gas cans being sat on the tarmac hit her ears and she glanced behind her in time to see Bob and Sasha attempting to procure some drops of gas from the pumps that were all likely empty. 

Familiar footsteps reached her ears and she turned to see Daryl approaching her, safe and sound as she knew he would be. She smiled at him happily, knowing that her smile told him just how grateful she was that he was unharmed. Daryl reached over to touch her back softly as he went around the other side of the car, prying the door open as the rusted hinges protested in a groan of metal that made Beth flinch and Daryl's mouth settle into a deep grimace. 

Beth opened the door on her side of the car, the same noise piercing through the air. She shuddered at the sound while the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. It was worse than listening to nails on a chalkboard. 

"I've never heard a sound that shrill before." she said as she bent down to scan the backseat and floorboards of the car, one hand placed on her lower belly as she kneeled half inside the car. 

Daryl snorted air through his noise, as close as he got to a laugh most of the time, as he scoured the front seat for anything useful. "You should have heard my mom when she yelled." 

Beth looked over at him quickly in surprise, peering at him curiously from between the headrests of the two front seats. It was so rare for Daryl to ever so much as allude to his childhood that him actually mentioning it almost knocked her over with surprise. 

Determined not to make him feel uncomfortable from sharing she went back to checking the backseat floorboards for anything that they could deem as usable, frowning when all she found was a half empty pack of stale gum. 

"Did she have a high voice?" Beth finally settled on asking, deciding that was a safer question than asking whether or not she yelled a lot. Beth might not know all of Daryl's childhood but she knew enough. The pads of her fingers had traced the scars marring his back enough times that Daryl did not need to let stories pass his lips. 

His scars spoke louder truths than any words he would ever say. 

From the corner of her eye she saw one of Daryl's shoulders lift up in a quick shrug. "Only when she was yelling. She could reach levels only dogs could hear." Daryl sighed and shut the glove box with a snap. "There ain't nothing in here. Let's check the trunk." 

Beth nodded in agreement and shoved the pack of gum into her back pocket, even stale gum was a rare treat these days. Scooting out of the car she left the door open behind her, unwilling to force her ears to suffer from that awful noise again. Daryl already had the trunk of the car open and was digging through the contents inside, tossing unwanted things to the ground behind him. 

Stepping next to him Beth peered inside the large trunk at an assortment of plastic grocery bags and a few bulging duffle bags. She felt a smile cross her face as she reached for a bag and pulled it out of the trunk, setting it on the floor as she knelt next to it and eased the zipper open, happy when it did not put up the same protest as the car doors. 

Beth rustled through the clearly hastily packed bag, tossing aside clothes that had obviously not been thought through when packed, setting aside the few valuable things that she did find. She smiled when she managed to procure a box of tampons, just because she didn't need them at the moment didn't mean that the other women didn't. 

A noise of disgust caught her attention and she looked up at Daryl who held out a bright red sweater in front of him with a look of severe revulsion. Seeing the inquisitive look on her face he flipped the sweater towards her and Beth flinched at the sight of actual miniature Christmas lights sewn onto it. 

"I've never seen anything this ugly before." Daryl admitted as he quickly threw it behind him. Beth grinned as she looked back down at the bag before her. Coming from a man who admitted that his father would buy ashtrays shaped like bras, that was saying a lot. 

"You two are always doing that." Tara remarked as she walked over to join them, having abandoned her search of the farthest parked car, her empty hands showing how fruitful her search had been. "What's it about?" she asked curiously as she stepped next to the trunk to grab a bag and help them in their search. 

Beth opened her mouth to come up with an explanation but she was cut off by a snort as Molly stepped up behind Tara to reach into the trunk as well. 

"Don't bother. It's just their couple thing." she said with an exaggerated eye roll, casting a wink at Beth when she caught her shaking her head at her. 

"Couple thing?" Daryl grunted as he pulled a bulky black duffle bag out and onto the ground. 

"Yeah." Molly said, suddenly more animated than Beth had seen her since Winston. "You know, that one annoying thing that couples always do. The one they don't bother to explain to anyone else because it's their, you know, their _thing_." she looked around at the other three, clearly expecting them to understand or at the very least agree with her insight on relationship dynamics. She rolled her eyes and huffed out a 'whatever' at their blank looks, causing Tara to let out a soft laugh. 

Her hands full of useless silk shirts Beth thought over Molly's words. "She's got a point. Have you noticed how Maggie and Glenn always start grinning when we pass a pharmacy?" she asked Daryl curiously, thinking back on the one thing she noticed that the couple always did. 

Daryl shrugged as he struggled to cut the fabric of the duffle bag open. There was a small silver luggage lock holding the zipper closed and the material seemed to be made of a thick black mesh. "Probably don't want to know what that's about." Daryl admitted as he got his knife to go through the thick fabric, raising up onto his haunches as he worked the knife down through the material. 

Tara grabbed an armful of the useful things they had already weeded out and began to walk over to the van where Maggie and Carl were loading supplies into the back. Tyresse stood next to them with Judith in his arms and Beth could not help but smile at the sight. The man had grown as close to the child while on the run as Beth had in the prison. She wondered for a moment if her and Daryl's child would become such a central part of the group as well, with everyone feeling as though they had to protect it like it was their own. 

"Guys." Molly's voice had lost all of its joking element and Beth looked back over at her in surprise, the noise of tearing fabric slowly but not ceasing as Daryl gave her only half of his attention. Molly shifted uneasily for a moment. "I wanted to ask you about Eug-" 

Her question was suddenly cut short as Daryl let out a low whistle. Beth swiveled on her heels to face him; he was staring with a real (albeit small) grin on his face at the contents of the bag whose shredded sides he was holding open. 

Beth shuffled the few feet between them to peer down into the contents as well, her breath leaving her in a gasp as she stared down at the contents. 

Daryl reached into the bag and slowly eased a large black rifle out of it. Inside Beth could see at least four more guns, as well as several boxes of ammo. 

"This will help when we get to DC." Daryl mumbled as he turned the rifle in his hands before looking up and catching Beth's eye with a look of relief. She was so focused on counting the boxes of ammo in the bag that she missed Molly's sigh of frustration. 

Daryl sighed as he kept an eye on the sides of the road where the group slept, huddled between the relative safety of their two vehicles and secure in the knowledge that they had two people on watch. If Daryl turned his head just right he could see the back of Abraham's head where he sat resting on the hood of the van, staring down the road they had just traveled. Daryl himself sat in the back of the pickup, keeping a close eye on both the sides of their camp and the long road they still had to travel down. 

The thick overgrown green foliage that crept ever closer to the sides of this road seemed as familiar to Daryl as the woods in Georgia. He was just beginning to wonder if all places looked the same or if it was just a trick of the night sky when the soft plod of boots roused him from his thoughts. 

He turned his head quickly to look out over the sleeping prone bodies of his group, unsurprised to see one of them up and heading straight towards him. Rick clambered easily into the bed of the pickup walking as quietly as possible across the empty metal bed to ease himself into a sitting position next to Daryl, where he sat with his back resting against the cab. 

For a moment neither of them said anything, merely content to be back in each other's presence. In the week and a half that they had all been reunited the shock of it was finally wearing off and they could all truly begin to appreciate each other's company without expecting it to be the last time they spoke. It was an easiness to which Daryl had grown unaccustomed to over the months. Even when they were behind the fences at Winston, he had lived in a constant state of fear that Beth would be killed before his eyes but now with so many of them to protect each other from whatever dangers they faced some of his worries had been lifted, at least marginally. 

Rick sighed deeply through his noise as he rested his hands on his knees, which were pulled up towards his chest. As Daryl watched the sides of the road, he heard a soft thud as Rick let his head fall back against the cab’s glass window, his eyes turned up to focus on the night sky above them, the full moon illuminating the world like the night's version of the sun. 

Daryl didn't say anything, he knew that whatever was troubling Rick enough to prevent him from sleeping (he had just ended his own shift on watch, he should be deep in slumber by now) would come out soon enough. He did not have to wait long, after only a few minutes Rick whispered to him in a voice far too soft to carry to the others just in case any of them were awake. 

"Do you think we're making the right choice?" 

Daryl did not have to ask Rick to know what he was referring to, that question had been haunting his mind daily since Beth and him had changed destinations. The closer they grew to DC the more worried Daryl became that they were making the wrong choice, that as much as it would have pained him to send Beth with Sarah and the others when they left maybe he should have. He would have been more worried then, for her and the baby, about what was happening to them as they would have had no way to contact each other but sometimes Daryl wondered if that still wouldn't have been the safer course of action. If she had gone back to her farm, he would not have known what sorts of danger awaited her there, but he had a fair inkling of what horrors were awaiting them in DC. But despite all of that Daryl knew that having Beth come with him was the only course of action he truly could have taken. 

"We had to." Daryl admitted, sparing Rick a glance from the corner of his eyes. The older man was not looking at him, he was staring off at the sleeping figures and Daryl knew without following his line of vision that his gaze was resting on Carl and the car seat where Judith slept, it being too hot to let her sleep in the relative safety of the van. 

"If there's any chance that this shit can be stopped." Daryl shrugged feeling Rick's eyes drift over to rest on him as he stared ahead, just able to make out Beth's tangle of blonde hair on the floor where she slept next to her sister. Daryl felt his heart beat a little faster in his chest as he admitted the truth of why he had agreed to risk Beth's and the baby's lives for this mission. "We have to try. If there's anything we can do to end this, we have to do it." 

The pair sat in silence for a few minutes while Rick mulled all of this over. "You're going to be a good father Daryl." he said giving Daryl a small smile when he turned his head to look at him in surprise. That hadn't been what he had expected him to say. 

Hearing people say that always filled him with an irrupt surge of hope. He would never confess it to anyone but that was his biggest fear these days. Not the walkers, not being bitten, hell not even other people, but that he would end up being the exact kind of father that his own was. He had spent his whole life until the shit hit the fan trying to make himself into as different of a man than his father as possible. It wasn't until this mess started that he learned that he actually was. But still, hearing someone like Rick tell him that momentarily eased the tight ball of tension in his chest. Maybe he could do this after all. 

"I'll admit when I first learned about you and Beth." Rick shook his head with a light laugh. "I was surprised. But I've seen how the two of you are together." Rick dropped his arms back on his knees and rested his head back against the truck window as Daryl shifted uncomfortable as always with the conversation of his personal life. Although he supposed in reality no one truly had a personal life anymore. 

"The two of you are good for each other. I think you both bring out things in the other that weren't always apparent before." Rick let out another small chuckle as he shook his head, twisting his neck to peer at Daryl in the light the moon provided them with. "My point is, I get why you're willing to do this. Risk everything on the slim chance it might make things better for the two, no the three, of you. I get it." 

Daryl met his friend, his brother's, eyes for a moment before turning back to face the side of the road. "You would've done the same thing man. Hell, you have." 

Rick sighed as he closed his eyes again and Daryl could not help but wonder if he still saw Lori when he did that. Daryl could not ever imagine losing Beth the way Rick had lost his wife, and he had been married to her much longer than Daryl had been married to Beth. He hoped with everything he had that he never had to feel the pain Rick clearly went through every day. 

"Do you really think he knows what he's doing?" Rick finally asked, his voice barely a breath as his eyes snapped open to make sure that none of the other's overheard them. It did no good to cause anyone else to worry. 

Daryl didn't need to ask him to specify who he meant; this was another question that plagued him with nearly every mile they covered. 

"I hope so." he confessed with a shrug, turning his head in time to catch the flicker of a grin cross Rick's face. 

"You see? That's what I meant. Before Beth you never would have used that word." Rick let out a laugh at Daryl's face before a solemn look passed over his features like a storm cloud. "I just can't figure out what his plan is. I'm beginning to think he doesn't have one." 

Daryl nodded; he had been thinking the same thing as of late. Every time they wanted to discuss strategy with Eugene he got this nervous panicked look on his face before making up some excuse or distracting them so well that it was not until later when they went to sleep that Daryl realized they were another day closer and not a single part of the plan had been set into stone. As of this point, they would be going into DC blind. If Sarah's theory about it being overrun was correct (which Daryl highly expected it to be) than that was literally the worst possible way they could approach the city. The only way they would be able to have even a hope of surviving this mission was if they planned out every single aspect of it, which so far, they hadn't. 

"Do you trust him?" Daryl asked quietly as he peered down at the sleeping forms of their family. His vague question did not need to be clarified, not for Rick. He did not mean a simple kind of trust, the kind you had to have to turn your back on someone these days and expect not to have a knife suddenly protrude from it. No, Daryl was asking him if he was willing to trust this man with not just his life, but all of their lives, those of his son and daughter included. That of Daryl's wife and unborn child as well. 

Rick let out a shaky breath before turning to catch Daryl's eyes with an intense pained expression. "What choice do we have?" 

Beth held Judith on her hip as she helped Carol count out their remaining water supply at the back of the van. The task went by far quicker than it had the previous days due to their rapidly diminishing store. 

"This isn't going to be enough." Carol said with a sigh as she straightened and placed her hands on her hips, "We're going to have to do a run before we get into the city." 

Beth nodded in agreement as she looked at the dwindling supply of both water and food. She was busy trying to decide where would be the best place to look for supplies that wouldn't have already been cleared out when Daryl and Rick stalked past them and headed to where Eugene stood with Rosita who was trying to get him to study a map with her. 

Beth turned around to watch them in apprehension, she had caught sight of the angry look in Daryl's eyes as he had walked past. It was a look she had seen on him in the past but this time it seemed more severe than any other time she had seen it. She held her breath as she watched them approach Eugene, certain that a confrontation was coming. 

"Eugene." Rick called as he got within earshot of the man who looked over at him with a wary look, his fingers curling on the edge of the map causing the paper to crinkle. "We need to talk." 

"We ain't going any further without a plan." Daryl interrupted before Eugene could even open his mouth. 

The man balked, his mouth thinning into a line as a brief flash of panic crossed his features. The rest of the group slowly seemed to become aware of the commotion and they all abandoned what they were doing to creep closer, no one wanting to be left out of the action. 

Abraham seemed to sense the severity of the confrontation if it was not stopped abruptly because he walked over to the three of them quickly, placing a hand on both Daryl's and Rick's shoulder. "Hey now. The man knows what he's doing." he said calmly, clearly trying to appease them. 

Daryl shrugged the hand off of his shoulder as he took another step closer to Eugene. "Does he?" he asked, his voice now an octave lower. Beth bit her lip in fear, the quieter Daryl got the more likely he was to blow up. He was like some kind of twisted time bomb that way, the ticking of the timer getting lower as the explosion neared. 

"They're right." Glenn suddenly interrupted as he walked even closer to join the group standing in the middle of the road. "We need to make a plan before we get into the city. It'll be too dangerous once we're inside." 

Abraham considered this before shrugging. "Makes sense." he looked at Eugene then who suddenly had a strictly blank face. "Where do we need to get you to once we're in DC?" 

Beth saw Eugene's eyes flutter closed for a moment and his chest rise as he took a deep breath. She shifted uneasily on her feet as his eyes snapped open, how had they gotten this far without asking him that question? "The Pentagon." he said reassuringly, his calm tone not wavering even though his eyes shifted uneasily from Daryl to Rick, both of whom still stood in front of him with matching distrust on their features. 

Rick tilted his head slightly to the side as he peered closely at Eugene before casting Daryl a look from the corner of his eye. 

"The Pentagon?" Rick repeated softly as he took a small step closer to Eugene who swallowed as he met Rick's eyes. 

"I'm confused." Sasha suddenly said quietly as she peered cautiously at Eugene. "Why do you need to go to the Pentagon? They don't have medical equipment there do they? Won't you need medical equipment to create the cure?" 

"They'll get me the materials I need." Eugene drawled, his accent seeming to become more prominent with the nerves he was clearly trying so hard to cover. 

"And what do you need?" Michonne's voice was calm and quiet, no sign of the distrust Beth could clearly see forming behind her eyes. 

"What do you plan on doing once you get to the Pentagon?" Rick asked softly as Beth saw Daryl's hands begin to curl into fists at his sides. Eugene sucked in a breath and Beth thought she could the see the glisten of sweat on his forehead as Rick took another step towards him. "Do they even know that you're coming?" 

For a moment no one moved, all eyes locked on Eugene who seemed to be waging a massive internal battle. Beth felt her heart speed up in her chest, of course they knew Eugene was coming. They had to know, because if he had a found a cure then surely...and that was when the reality of the situation hit Beth. 

If the Pentagon was still standing, if any government was still standing, they would already be working on a cure by now. It had been close to three years since the outbreak and they had seen no sign of the government or heard of any developments of a solution, Eugene's claim notwithstanding. There was no government left and if there was nobody left than why was Eugene trying so desperately to get there to work on a cure? A cure that he had supposedly discovered when the entirety of the US government and their assorted resources had been unsuccessful. 

Beth's hopes had already been crushed by her own realizations but when she saw Eugene shake his head minutely, she felt the remaining pieces shatter. Eugene didn't have the cure he had been promising them. 

This was the only way they would get to live now. 

She placed her hand lightly against the small bump in her stomach and watched everyone's faces as they realized that Eugene's head shake was about more than just being expected at Washington DC. 

"There is no cure, is there?" Bob asked, his voice holding onto a last shred of hope that they were all just misunderstanding each other. Beth looked away from him, not wanting to see the expression on his face fall as Eugene nodded consent. 

This mess would never be over. 

Beth tried to block out everyone's reactions, her heart was already breaking and she did not desire to watch everyone else's do the same. She wished that she had never allowed herself to believe in Eugene's word. Hope was a good thing, a great thing, but sometimes too much could be deadly. 

From the corner of her eye she saw Rick sigh and run his hands through his hair as he turned away. She saw Abraham shaking his head as if in denial, his fingers slowly curling to form fists at his sides. 

"You were using us." he growled as he stepped forward raising his fist. But before he could swing to make contact with Eugene's face Daryl got there first. 

Eugene let out a yelp of pain and Beth stumbled forwards in surprise as Daryl pulled back his fist again, letting it fly straight into Eugene's nose. The sound of bones crunching hit Beth's ears as blood flew from Eugene's face to splatter on the road. She halted in her tracks at the sight of it, unsure of what to do. 

Daryl said nothing as he pulled back his fist again to let it fly, this time hitting Eugene in the side as he hunched into himself, trying to stop the gush of blood flowing from his nose with his hands. He let out a grunt of pain and Beth unfroze, stepping closer, torn between letting Daryl get it out of his system and whether or not she thought the man actually deserved to be beaten. He had given them false hope and her heart felt bruised from having it taken away from her, but did Daryl really have to repay him a bruise for a bruise? 

Apparently plagued by the same thoughts Tyresse stepped forward, gripping Daryl's shoulder. "He's not worth it man." 

"Not worth it?" Daryl spat as he spun on his heel to glare at Tyresse. For a wild moment Beth wondered if he was going to swing at him too but Daryl just turned back to glare at Eugene who had fallen to his knees on the gravel, blood now seeping out from between his fingers. "This piece of shit lied to us! He would have led us all to our deaths!" Daryl stepped forward then, his fist flying to make contact with the side of Eugene's head. No one moved to stop Daryl from taking his rage out on the man. Beth began to take a step forward but stopped when she felt a hand close around her wrist. She looked back in surprise at Carl who shook his head at her. 

"He deserves it." the boy whispered and Beth felt her heart drop at the look of rage in the boy's eyes. She had a feeling that if given the chance he would gladly take Daryl's place. 

The man on the ground groaned and lifted his hands up to cover his face as though such a gesture would be able to hold off Daryl's rage as he silently fumed above him. 

"I'm sorry." Eugene all but whimpered as he struggled to regain his feet. Daryl sped forward then, pulling Eugene up by the collar of his shirt so that he could yell into his face. Beth sucked in a deep breath at the sight, she had not seen fury consume Daryl like this since the day of the moonshine incident. Part of her wanted to rush forward, much as she had that fateful day, to take Daryl into her arms. To try and let her embrace ease some of the turbulent emotions plaguing him. But she didn't know if her hold would be enough to calm him this time. 

"I trusted you! I thought you could give her a better life than." Daryl's arms swung wildly in the air as he gestured to the rundown road they stood on and the weary and exhausted look on all of their faces as the last sparks of hope within them were put out. "than _this_. I risked her life, my child's life for your piece of shit story and all you have to say is that you're _sorry_?!" 

The remaining pieces of Beth's heart felt like they had been pounded into powder as Daryl glared into the man's face for another moment before shoving him away from him with a noise of disgust. He looked ready to swing again and Beth could tell from the looks on everyone's faces that they thought this was a just punishment. After the false hope Eugene had given them the least he deserved was few bruises. Beth felt as betrayed as everyone else, but she could not stand quietly by and watch as her husband used such brute force on the man. 

She stepped forward, cautiously at first before walking steadily to Daryl and laying a hand gently on his arm. He turned to look at her with a broken expression on his face the faintest trace of remorse crossing his features as he looked down at her. 

Beth ignored the bleeding man on the ground as she turned Daryl away from him, taking one of his bloody hands in hers as she led him away and whispered too low for the others to hear. "Don't let him turn you into this person, not again." 

She heard the sounds of other's now yelling at Eugene and demanding reasons for his lies but Beth did not slow to look back. She was afraid she would see someone else beating the man now. Daryl began to shake underneath her arm and she walked them around the front of the truck where they would be at least partially out of sight of the others. 

Beth wrapped her arms around him as he leaned into her embrace, still shaking from his rage. 

"We'll figure something out." Beth promised as she stroked his hair, Daryl's arms tightening around her middle. "We always do." 

Daryl leaned against the side of the pickup, wind tossing his overgrown hair into his eyes. Grunting in frustration he pushed it back off his forehead in an attempt to clear his vision as he stared out at the road they had already traveled. Beth looked over at him with a small smile, leaning in close to speak directly into his ear so that he would be able to hear her over the sound of the air whipping past them. 

"You should just let me cut it." she pulled away from him to tug at his hair, prompting Daryl to roll his eyes. The fact that they were discussing the length of his hair almost made him feel more like a married couple than the rings residing on both of their fingers. 

"Maybe when we get to the farm." he called into her ear, causing her to nod with a slightly smug smile at him surrendering so easily. Still smiling she tucked her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes as the truck moved on in the monotonous pace that had become their lives. 

After the truth about Eugene had gotten out it had taken several hours for everyone to calm down enough to even consider coming up with a plan. In that time Daryl was not the only one who had taken out his rage on the man's body. Neither he nor Beth had watched the others lose their control (having seen him do it was more than enough for her and Daryl did not think he could watch without joining in again) but both Rick and Abraham were sporting bruised knuckles that looked far worse for wear than Daryl's own hands. Eugene's face was swollen and multicolored and every time he breathed Daryl could hear a raspy wheezing sound. 

But he was still alive and for that he seemed to be grateful. 

Even more than just being alive the group had not abandoned him on the roadside to fend for himself alone, the idea of which that had scared him so badly he had lied to them in the first place. They had considered it, Daryl had even voted for it, but in the end, it was decided that Eugene would stay with them. Carol had held the most swaying argument in that every one of them had done things they were not proud of and that the group needed all the people it could have to better protect themselves out here. Her argument won Eugene his place in the group, but no one was happy about it. Even the people who had argued the most adamantly to keep him with them (mainly Carol, Tara and Beth) did not seem to be very thrilled to have his company. As such the man retreated inside of himself, riding in the back of the van with the supplies as far away from everyone else as he could get. 

Daryl kept himself at a fair distance from the man, not trusting himself to not attack him if he was within the same air space. 

The truck went over a pothole in the road causing Beth's head to bounce against his collarbone. She winced and sat up, rubbing at her head. Daryl reached over and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, trying to force his mind off of Eugene and focus on better things. 

After everyone had calmed down enough to realize they now had no plan of action it was Beth who suggested into the silent air that they should simply go back to her father's farm. Maggie had been quick to agree which in turn made Glenn concede as well. They hadn't even had to persuade everyone else that much before they all agreed to make their way back down the roads they had already painstakingly traveled in the hopes that the farm was still standing and not overrun. 

Days had passed since that decision had been made but the amount of time had not made it any easier for Daryl to come to terms with the fact that there was in fact no cure. The knowledge that they had merely been chasing a daydream was not an easy thing for him to accept. He had not truly realized how much he was banking on Eugene's promise of a cure until that promise had been taken away from him. 

The first night had been the hardest. He had sat on watch with Rick, unable to stop his mind from berating him for being willing to trust Eugene off of so little information. For being foolish enough to believe that this all could be cured, that this mess would one day be over. He and Rick had sat in a sullen silence, both knowing the other well enough to know that talking it over at the moment would do neither of them any good, although it might result in Eugene gaining another beating. 

Both of them had been relying on Eugene's story. They had both truly believed that the man would be able to save their families from this terrible life. Having their hopes taken away from them so suddenly and so harshly was not an easy thing for either of them to deal with. Daryl was used to disappointment, hell pretty much his whole life had been one big disappointment. But this feeling was something else entirely. 

The sound of footsteps had pulled both of them from their distressing thoughts and they turned as one to see Abraham approaching them, bandages wrapped tight around one of his hands. He did not say a word as he sank down on the other side of Daryl, elbows resting on his knees. 

The three sat in a loaded silence for several minutes, Daryl staring blankly down the empty road his eyes not really seeing it. All he could see was the future that he thought he was working for, the life he thought that he would get to build with his family. He had not been letting himself hope for very much before Eugene was revealed as a fraud but apparently, he had been hoping for it far more than he had realized. Now that the secret was out and Daryl knew that this was how they would live from now on images of the life he and Beth could have had without all this mess kept flooding his brain. He was in the process of trying to erase images of white picket fences and their kid playing in a sandbox when Abraham spoke. 

"I was a damn fool." his voice seemed deeper than usual in his anger. Daryl looked over at the man from the corner of his eye but Abraham simply stared at the asphalt in front of his feet, refusing to meet either man's gaze. "I should have demanded more information from the start. More to go on. I guess I just thought it was my duty to the country to get him there." 

Abraham let out a humorless laugh as he shook his head. "D'ya know how many people died out here for this? For _him_? All because I was so damn set on having a mission, having a purpose, that I didn't even question that fucker." The three lapsed into silence at after this declaration before Daryl spoke. 

"Not your fault." he grunted, staring off down the road now as Abraham turned his head to look at him. "We didn't question him either." 

Rick let out a long sigh as he nodded. "We all just wanted to believe there was a cure. For us. For our families." Daryl nodded in agreement and Abraham paused before he took a deep breath. 

"Ain't ever gonna get better is it?" he asked rhetorically as he grabbed a loose rock off the road and turned it in his palm absentmindedly. 

Neither of the other men answered him as they sat in silence for the rest of the night, none of them able to calm their emotions down enough to rest. 

The truck going over another bump in the road jerked Daryl back to the present. He shook his head to clear the memories from it as he surveyed the area around them. Beth pulled away from him to stretch her back and Daryl reached over to brush some dirt off of her shirt. He caught Glenn's grin from across the truck bed to which Daryl rolled his eyes. Every time he or Beth did anything that remotely resembled being a couple someone from the prison always got a huge smile on their face as though they couldn't quite believe what they were seeing. It was starting to grate on his nerves although Beth seemed to think it was simply because the others were happy for them and their happiness despite of everything they had to go through. Whatever the reasons behind their smiles they still made Daryl feel like an awkward teenager on display. 

The scenery flew by as they traveled for as long as the sun shone. They were making far better time on their return trip, whether it was because they knew what shape the roads were in or because they were all in such a hurry to put some space between themselves and the man who had lied so hurtfully to them Daryl was not sure. Days spent in the back of the truck, or even on their shifts driving, soon blended into one frightening tedious day after the other. Even the few walkers that they passed seemed to be slower than usual. 

That night as they settled down to camp, somewhere near the bottom of North Carolina, Daryl lay stretched out on the cold pavement with Beth tucked up under his arm. He could feel the slight swell of her stomach pressing against his torso and felt a silent wonder over the fact that their child was now growing enough to be noticeable inside of her. 

Thinking of their child only made his blood run red and his fists clenched without conscious thought. Their kid would have to grow up like this, sleeping on roads and learning how to kill walkers. It would probably have to learn how to hold a knife before it could even read. He closed his eyes and let out a slow breath from his nose, determined not to let his anger get the best of him. 

Daryl felt Beth move and opened his eyes to see her propped up on an elbow and looking down at him. She peered at him closely for a second before frowning. "Are you thinking about Eugene again?" she whispered, mindful of their companions scattered around them. 

Hesitating a moment Daryl nodded, he hated to show anyone how truly hurt he was by the revelation of Eugene's true colors. He especially tried to hide it from Beth, he didn't want her to be more upset about it than she needed to be, he was sure it couldn't be good for the baby. 

Beth took a breath and licked her lips, her face contorted in deep concentration as she thought for words to say. "Daryl." she began before shaking her head remorsefully, her large blue eyes fixed on his. "It's never going to be like the way it was. This mess is never going to be over. We're just going to have to make the best of what we've got now." 

Sighing, Daryl nodded reaching up to brush a stray lock of hair behind her ear. She was right and honestly hearing that she had come to terms with that already made things a little easier for him. If Beth was willing to face the fact that this was the world they were going to have to raise their family in then he would accept that as well. 

"When did you get so wise?" he grunted as she leaned down to kiss him with a small giggle. 

Their lips had only just brushed when Beth let out a gasp and rolled away from him, her hands going to rest on her stomach. Daryl sat up in alarm and he saw Molly turn towards the noise, raising to her knees when she saw Beth's position. 

"What's wrong?" she demanded, sliding forward to crouch over Beth. 

Beth shook her head at the girl's question, turning her head to focus her gaze on Daryl alone as their friends turned in alarm to see what the commotion was about. From the corner of his eye Daryl saw Maggie stand and walk quickly to them. Fear began to course his veins that something had gone wrong, that Beth and the baby were now sick. This was not a possibility he had truly considered when Beth told him she was pregnant. He hadn't thought he would need to worry about the pregnancy affecting her until it came time for the birth. 

His panic was escalating when Beth reached out and grabbed his hand, placing it underneath hers on her stomach as a smile bloomed across her face. Daryl felt a light flutter against his hand and he nearly reeled back in surprise as Beth whispered what he had already begun to realize. 

"The baby kicked."


	14. Chapter 14

Beth had never once imagined that trees would look familiar to her. For nearly the last year of her life she had all but lived surrounded by trees so she knew that while each one was different, they all also blurred together into being the same tree. Therefore, she was quite surprised to find that she could recognize one on sight. 

"We're almost there." she whispered under her breath, keeping her voice quiet in the hopes that a lower volume would help to disguise the fear she was feeling. Daryl shot her a worried look from the corner of his eye before hefting his loaded crossbow up onto his shoulder and turning to face the outside of the pickup. Beth followed suit, holding her stomach with one hand as she rose to her knees and watched the scenery fly past her. They had no idea what to expect when they reached the farm. For all they knew the horde that had taken it from them so long ago was still milling around it just waiting for a meal to deliver itself to them. 

Beth found that she could not focus on the thought of walkers right now. She knew these woods; she knew this road. Both were sights that she never thought that she would see again after that horrible night so many years ago. The night that they lost Jimmy, Patricia, Shane. As the truck got ever closer Beth suddenly felt a hitch in her breath. Walkers were one thing but was she truly ready to face this farm, these memories? Was she ready to face the mirror she had broken in the attempts to take her own life? Her hand drifted to her wrist of its own accord and she ran her finger over the thin scar hidden by her corded bracelets. She would not be that weak again. 

A hand suddenly grabbed hers, turning her palm to intertwine their fingers together. Beth turned to smile gratefully at Maggie who managed to smile back at her, squeezing her hand gently. Beth could feel her heart hammering in her ears and felt the irrational urge to tell Abraham to turn the truck around, that she didn't want to go to the farm after all. A larger part of her managed to shut this fear down, reminding herself of all the good memories she had at her family's home. 

As though she could sense her sister's thoughts Maggie tightened her grip on Beth's hand. Beth's mind drifted back to the night before, wondering if Maggie was thinking about the same thing she was. 

The night prior they had made camp on the road for what everyone was silently hoping would be their last time having to sleep on the cold hard pavement. Beth had known the exact moment she laid down that sleep would be evading her that night. For the sake of the baby and her own weary body she had laid still for over an hour in the hopes that slumber would find her. As the air around her grew heavy with the sound of her companions even breathing and even Daryl's breath fell into the slowness of sleep Beth finally surrendered. She carefully slipped out from underneath Daryl's arm, setting it down softly on the asphalt as she slowly rose to her feet. 

There was nowhere for her to go that would allow her to outrun the dark and turbulent thoughts that were preventing her from sleep so Beth simply stood above her companions for a moment, her eyes falling on each of them in turn. So close to the farm, in both time and location, Beth felt another stab of worry that she had led all these people so far for nothing. They all needed the farm to be useable, not just to have a safe place to live (although they had all grown tired of sleeping on roads and spending all day in vehicles) but so that they could have some peace of mind. All of them were sick to death of looking over their shoulder every few feet. 

Crossing her arms over her chest more for comfort than warmth (the summer air felt like a heavy blanket of humidity around her) Beth walked quietly away from her companions to stand at the edge of the road. She caught Tyresse glancing at her sideways from his spot on watch and she sent him a small wave to reassure him that everything was okay. He seemed appeased with this and he looked off down the way they had already traveled to keep his eyes open for walkers. 

Beth kicked aimlessly at a small rock on the ground as she stared up at the sky above her. Starlight illuminated her face and for a moment she simply embraced the stillness of the night, shoving all of her worries about tomorrow into the back of her mind. 

Footsteps behind her broke her out of her tranquil state and Beth looked over her shoulder to see Maggie approaching her, an understanding expression on her face. Her sister joined her in her silent vigil on the outskirts of their group and for a moment neither of them said anything, neither feeling the need to scrounge for words to describe feelings they both already knew. 

"I miss them." Maggie spoke so softly that at first Beth thought it was only her imagination. She peered at her sister sideways from the corner of her eye but Maggie kept staring straight ahead as she licked her lips and shrugged. "Every day I see some silly thing that makes me want to tell Shawn about. Or I see something beautiful and wish Mom could see it. I wish I could talk my problems over with Daddy." Maggie paused to draw in a shaky breath, before she turned to fix Beth with an intent stare. Beth fidgeted nervously under her gaze. It was rare for Maggie to talk about their family, she always focused so hard on the future that sometimes Beth secretly wondered if she had forgotten the past. "No matter what we find at the farm, we've still got each other." she whispered, her eyes bright and her voice intense. 

Beth nodded and stepped forward to wrap her older sister into a tight hug. Maggie clutched her to her so tightly that Beth felt a twinge of worry for the baby before her sister pulled back as quickly as she had approached her, trying to discreetly wipe tears from her eyes as she turned away. 

They were turning onto the long dirt road that led to the farm now, and Beth felt as though the circulation in her hand was being cut off. She did not have to try very hard to figure out what Maggie was thinking. Another hand suddenly touched the arm that Maggie wasn't clutching like a lifeline and Beth turned to see Carol who didn't remove her eyes from the approaching farm as she slipped her hand into Beth's, her fingers cutting tightly into Beth's circulation. 

She was suddenly very forcefully reminded that she wasn't the only one with ghosts at this farm. 

The truck bumped over a road that Beth did not remember being this rough and the only thing keeping her from falling out of the truck were the two women clinging desperately to her hands. She returned the pressure and watched with wide eyes as the truck slowly made its way through the broken front gate. 

The first thing she noticed was that while there were several rotted corpses littering the ground there were no walkers roaming about the farm. After registering this fact her eyes were immediately drawn to the remnants of the barn that Carl and Rick had sat on fire in their escape. Despite the weather that had no doubt torn through the place there was still a fine layer of black ash around the area. A few stubborn beams had stayed up, blackened and worn but clinging desperately to the ground to remain standing. She could see the windmill in the distance turning slightly in the soft breeze. The chicken coop looked to be still in good shape and she could see the stables were mostly intact as well. Beth felt sick at the thought of what remains they would find in there. Her eyes scanned the farm hungrily as Abe drove them closer to the house. She could just make out the scattering of rocks by the trees not too far from the house and felt a twinge of pain that Otis's memorial had been knocked over. 

Beth's gaze fled back to the house then, surprised and pleased to find it still standing in more or less one piece. There were beams on the front porch missing and it appeared one of the windows they hadn't boarded up before the fall had been broken in. Part of the front porch looked smashed in and the front door didn't appear to be hanging straight but it was still there. The house was still standing. 

Beth let out a small sigh of relief and waited eagerly for Abe to park the truck. As the vehicle slowly rolled to a stop a thought struck her so hard she nearly toppled out of the bed as she stood and began to scan the farm again, only this time her gaze frantic and fueled by desperation. 

"It's not here." she whispered as Sasha eased the truck hatch down and hopped out, her crowbar held ready to begin the scan of the farm. Just because it looked clear didn't mean that it was. 

"What's not here?" Rosita asked as she jumped down after Sasha onto the overgrown lawn. The van pulled to a stop on the other side of the truck, Carl jumping out of it before it had even truly stopped. 

Beth swallowed hard as a swirl of fear and sadness hit her. "The car. The one we sent the others ahead in." her eyes drifted to Daryl's who met hers with a similar expression of sadness and regret as she whispered. "They didn't make it." 

Her mouth was suddenly dry as she let Molly help her down out of the truck. The grass was high enough that it reached the small sliver of skin between her boots and her jeans that she had rolled up to capris. Beth barely noticed the tickle on her skin as they made their way as a group to the front of the house. Daryl squeezed her shoulder lightly as he walked past and she knew he felt the same wave of pain she suddenly found herself under. 

Beth had not realized until this moment how much she had expected them to be here. She had not prepared for this. Molly stood next to her and shared a sympathetic look as they readied themselves to clear the house. Beth shoved her pain aside to be dealt with later, she needed to focus now. 

Rick, Tyresse and Daryl split off to check the other side of the house as Glenn, Sasha and Tara slowly went up to the front door, mindful of the hole in the porch floor. Glenn rapped on the door loudly to draw the attention of anything inside. They all stood in a tense silence for several seconds as they strained their ears to hear what was happening inside. 

There was a faint sound of a scuffle and Beth felt her hand drift to her knife, clutching it so tight her knuckles turned white. Her mind was drifting to the kind of damage a walker could have done inside of the house when the front door was suddenly flung open from the inside. 

Eugene stepped back a step with a yelp of surprise and Beth blinked at the empty doorway before her eyes drifted downwards. She only had long enough to catch a glimpse of dark hair before a weight hit her knees so hard she would have fallen backwards off the stairs if Bob had not reached up a hand to steady her. 

A smile began to stretch across her face as she knelt down to pry Roland off of her legs and take him tightly into her arms. A sigh of relief escaped her as he wrapped his small arms around her neck. From the open doorway she saw Daryl walking through the house towards them Luke trying in vain to pull him into a hug as Sarah sped out the door towards them, enveloping Molly into a quick hug. 

Daryl reached the porch and held out a hand to help Beth regain her footing. She placed a hand on her belly where she could feel the baby moving as they turned and surveyed the land that she could once again call home. 

The light breeze blowing across the farm was strong enough to chill the sweat sticking to Daryl's skin but not strong enough to dissipate the sweltering heat. He shifted uncomfortably as he watched Michonne walk to the ever-growing pile of stones and place one down with a carefulness he had never seen in her. The name she whispered was too soft for him to hear and Daryl watched in silence as she moved back to stand in between Carl and Rick, Carl reaching over to squeeze her arm in comfort as she stood stoically between them. 

Movement drew Daryl's eyes away from them and he watched as Carol approached the pile, the rock she had chosen small in her hands. She placed it on top of the memorial whispering the name of her long dead daughter as she did so. The group waited in respectful silence as she walked back to her spot in the circle surrounding the pile of stones, blinking tears from her eyes. 

Daryl tore his eyes away from Tyresse as he approached the pile to scan the farm, making sure it was as clear as they believed. One could never be too careful; they had been lulled into a false sense of security on this farm once before and it had cost them dearly. He was relieved to see that the fence they had spent the majority of the last month and a half building was still standing, still secure. It was sturdy and would keep out most walkers, unless they got a build up the size that first took out the farm, but it was not a pleasant sight to look upon. 

Made up of any material that they could find the fence was a mess of wire, wood and twisted metal poking out to catch walkers on should they approach too closely. The fence was yet to surround the entire area of the Greene family farm, its acreage was far too large for them to encase all of it in with their meager supplies. They had chosen to fence in the house and a large portion of the yard around it first, setting to work on planting crops in what was once the front lawn as they began to work on repairing and fortifying the original fences surrounding the outer land. 

Those were the group's two main concerns for the moment, securing the farm and procuring food. Daryl had lost count on the amount of runs he had been a part of over the last six weeks, or the runs that others had gone on. Each time they had to push a little bit farther out and each time it seemed that they managed to retrieve less and less valuable items. They had been lucky to find a decent amount of food at a few small grocery stores that had been more or less untouched. Lucky again in that two of the wells on the property had not been contaminated by walkers falling into them. 

They were well stocked with medical supplies as well since nothing in the house had been disturbed in their absence. All of Hershel's medical gear was still inside, as well as a decent supply of canned food that they had been stockpiling in the farmhouse in the days before they fled. They had a surplus of bandages and equipment for stitches. Molly and Bob believed they even had enough equipment to deliver the baby safely unless there were severe complications. Daryl tried not to think about the risk of that or he fell into a pit of worries that kept getting harder to climb out of. They even had a few bottles of prescription pain killers, not to mention the bag of Merle's pills that Daryl found inside the house on their first night. The sight of his brother's name in print had felt like a punch in the stomach after so long of seeing signs of Merle only in his memories. 

That first night in the farmhouse had not been easy for any of them. After Daryl had trudged up the stairs and stumbled into Beth's room, his body worn from the mental and physical exhaustion of the day, he found his wife sitting curled up in the middle of her bed with a framed photograph clutched tightly to her chest. 

Beth had glanced over at him slowly, her expression wary but her eyes dry. Daryl had felt a twinge of surprise at that, he had been certain that she would have cried by now. She managed to procure a small sheepish smile for him before looking down at the quilt on her bed, her fingers idly picking at a stray thread. 

"It's the last picture we ever took together as a family." she admitted, not moving to loosen her death grip on the frame as Daryl knelt down on the floor before her, his hands resting lightly on her knees. He had felt a strange twisting in his gut at that, both because of the sadness the photo was clearly causing her and because he had never been part of the kind of family that took the time to take photos together. 

Beth turned her bright blue eyes to his then, the intensity of her gaze never failing to startle him. "I'm afraid to look at it." she admitted, her voice the softest of whispers as a look of embarrassment passed over her features. Daryl shook his head at this admission, Beth Greene was not truly afraid of anything, let alone looking at a picture. He knew what she was scared of though, she was afraid of seeing their faces again and of how it would remind her of how they died. While she had not been faced with the grueling task of ending any of her family's reanimation (Daryl forcefully shook off the memory of his knife entering Merle's skull) she had still watched all three of the family members she had lost die in front of her eyes. 

Daryl reached up to brush a loose lock of hair off her face, his hand staying to cup her cheek. "You can do this." he whispered as he moved to sit next to her on the bed, placing his arm lightly around her shoulders. Beth tucked her head into the crook of his neck, her fingers loosening their death grip on the frame. Ever so slowly she eased the photo down into her lap sucking in a deep breath as she moved to flip it over. Daryl turned his head to press a light kiss against her forehead, hiding his small smile in her hair. Beth was nothing if not brave, even over the smallest of things. 

She gasped as the picture came into view and Daryl could not stop himself from looking at it. Seeing Hershel, smiling and so alive in that frame, caused an immense sadness to wash over him and he had to blink away the after image of the Governor running the sword through his neck. Maggie stood arm in arm with a boy Daryl knew to be Shawn, a smile on her face the likes of which Daryl had never seen on her. The boy looked as Beth had once described to him, he was even wearing one of the plaid shirts Beth said he was so overtly fond of. On Hershel's other side was an older blonde woman, her head resting against Hershel's arm much the way Beth was leaning against him right now. He saw Beth reach a shaking finger up to touch the glass above the woman's smiling face as she drew a shuddering breath. Daryl's arm tightened around her as his eyes landed on the Beth in the photograph. 

She looked much the same as his Beth, same blonde hair and bright blue eyes, same creamy skin. Her smile was radiant, it was one he had seen reserved only for special moments with him. But the girl in the photo seemed softer than his Beth, less rough around the edges. Despite the sweet look on her face Daryl much preferred the Beth in his arms, the girl who knew what it took to survive. 

They sat in silence for a long time staring into that photograph as the sounds of the others in the house grew quiet around them as they settled in to sleep before they began the many repairs the farm needed in the morning. 

Now their whole group stood in a respectful silence around the memorial they were building to commemorate their fallen loved ones. It resembled the rock memorial they had built for Otis, the one they had to build because they did not have his body. They were in a similar situation now, they all had so many dead in their lives but no bodies left to bury. 

They decided to create the memorial behind the graves that were already on the farm; Beth's mother and brother, Dale, Sophia. The group had collected all of the rocks from Otis's memorial and more from the woods encroaching on the grounds and started from the bottom, a name for every rock they placed down. Daryl had long since lost count of the names, lost count of the amount of stones that had been placed upon it. Every time he thought that surely they must be coming to an end of dead people by now someone else would step forward. He himself had yet to add a stone to the pile. 

It wasn't that Daryl did not have any dead people on his conscious, he had plenty. It was that most of them he did not have the claim to place a stone on top of the memorial. He watched as Rick and Carl placed one down for Lori together, watched as Michonne placed one for Andrea. All the people he cared about, someone else cared about them more. And he was okay with that, the less spectacle he made of himself the better. 

He watched as Sarah placed one down for her godfather and forced himself to not think about how he ended that man's life for him before his reanimation even began. It was a task that never got any easier. Some people had stopped stepping forward and he realized that meant they were nearing the end of this morbid ceremony. All of them knew it was a form of closure they all needed so no one complained about the amount of time it was taking. They were all too well aware that they had things that needed to be done besides this. 

Daryl shifted from foot to foot as he tried to decide when the best time would be to come back and put one down for his brother. He did not want to add Merle's stone to the memorial while the others were around because he did not want to see the animosity he knew would be on Glenn's face or the uncomfortable horror on Maggie's. Daryl knew what his brother had done to them just as he knew that no other act Merle had ever done would make up for it. He did not want to see the guilt on Rick's face as he remembered handcuffing his brother to that rooftop. Didn't want to deal with the fact that everyone would clearly be thinking the same thing, that Merle did not belong with the memory of their loved ones. 

Beth drew in a deep breath next to him and he watched her step forward with Maggie to place a stone at the top. As they let go of the stone, they clasped each other's hands whispering, "Daddy." before they turned back to their respective husbands. Daryl paused to remember Hershel in the silence, a man he still firmly believed to be the toughest son of a bitch he had ever met. 

Beth neared him then and he knew what she wanted before she was even truly within his reach. Daryl opened his arms for her and she slipped inside of them as though they were made to fit together. He rested his chin on the top of her head, her swollen belly making their hug only slightly awkward. Usually such a form of affection in front of the other's would have made him uncomfortable but right now no one even batted an eye. 

They stayed in their embrace as everyone slowly left the area to find some work to occupy their minds with. Rick clapped him on the shoulder as he passed them by and Daryl stared at the massive stone structure before him, unable to quite believe the sheer amount of death they had all seen in the last few years. 

The two of them stood in an amicable silence until Beth pulled away from him without a word and turned to walk back to the small pile of stones still next to the structure. Daryl reminded himself to move those somewhere different so that no one else would think about when they would next have to add another one to the top. Beth bent awkwardly to lift one from the ground and Daryl approached her quickly, an admonishment already forming on his lips about how both Bob and Molly had told her several times not to lift heavy things when she turned back towards him, the stone carefully cupped in her upturned palms. 

Beth’s eyes met his unwaveringly as she held the stone out towards him. "He's your brother." she whispered, as Daryl looked at her with a mixture of shock, gratitude and love. "You loved him so he deserves to be here too." 

Daryl stepped forward slowly, taking the stone carefully from her hands and stepping forward to rest it atop the others. His fingers brushed the rough surface of the rock as his voice, nearly as rough as the stone beneath his fingers, managed to form the syllable of his brother's name. 

"Merle." 

The soft sound of rain hitting the roof lulled Beth into a calm state as she curled against Daryl on the armchair they shared, her hand rubbing circles against her ever growing belly. Every so often she would feel their child kick back against her hand and she would smile to herself at their strange form of near communication. Daryl was running his fingers through her hair as he read the book propped open in his lap and Beth knew it was only the dangerous vibe that he still seemed to emit that was preventing even the bravest among them for making fun of him for it. 

The book was entitled _What to Expect the First Year_ with a picture of a smiling baby on the cover. Maggie had brought the book home for Beth, she and Glenn had found it in a baby store that they were looting to stock up on diapers, bottles and formula (just in case). Lately baby materials were something everyone tried to bring back whenever they went on a run. Even though Beth had told everyone repeatedly that cloth diapers would be just fine her and Daryl's room was still overflowing with boxes of Huggies ranging in every size they offered. There were plastic bottles and pacifiers stacked on top of those and more different colored baby blankets than she knew what to do with. That was not even mentioning the clothing and toys that were filling the entirety of her closet floor. 

Beth knew everyone was just excited and anxious about the baby, and they never went on runs specifically for stuff for it so she never really said anything against it. Besides, she was excited that their baby would have so many things ready for it. In truth she expected that was why everyone went out of their way to grab things. They thought that the more prepared they were for the child the more chances both it and Beth had of surviving the birth. 

No one ever forgot to grab things for Roland and Judith either while they went on their runs so Beth really couldn't complain about the overabundance of baby supplies. Judith had never had so many options for toys before and every time Beth saw her playing with her new alphabet blocks, she would get flashbacks of when the only thing they had to offer her to play with were red plastic drinking cups. 

Roland was in toy car heaven and even when he was doing his chores (they were always small things since he was still too young to contribute very much but he was old enough to know that he ought to be helping) you could always spot a car either close by or waiting in his back pocket. Beth had lost count of the number of races they had had together. 

The medical supplies they had ready for the delivery was also borderline ridiculous but since they could also be used for other things Beth did not feel bad about people having to go on runs for those. However, when Carol had returned with a pair of metal clamps that apparently had to be used on her when she had given birth to her daughter Beth had very nearly lost it. As much as she appreciated everyone being so prepared for her to give birth, she could not help but feel like she was merely a ticking time bomb to everyone. It felt to her that every bit of respect she had earned from these people, that every shred of dignity she had to repair in their eyes after she dragged that piece of broken mirror across her wrist so long ago had been wiped out. When they found out she was pregnant she simply went back to being another mouth they had to feed while worrying about. She no longer felt useful, no matter how many meals she cooked or laundry she did. Molly and Bob (and even Daryl) refused to let her do very much else although she did get to help a bit with the farming as only her and Maggie knew anything about planting crops and Maggie was almost always out on a run. Beth didn't think Maggie was entirely comfortable being in the farmhouse even though they had been there for over two months. 

It did help her that Daryl still treated her the same, that he still trusted her to take care of herself and their baby if the need arose. He had trusted her so many months ago to kill that walker with merely a wine bottle and a knife she could barely reach and he would still trust her to do the same now. In truth Beth thought she was the only person (besides perhaps Rick) that he would truly trust to protect both her and their child. It seemed that Daryl was the only one who still believed that she could be useful in this state. Beth knew he was more afraid than anyone that something would happen to her during the birth but he never voiced his fears aloud anymore as though he was afraid that telling her his fears would make them come true. It was Daryl who got the influx of diapers to slow down when he told Tyresse that they did plan to toilet train the kid and not keep it in diapers forever. Thankfully some of the diapers fit Judith so they didn't have to keep all the boxes in their room. 

It was not helping anyone that they were all basically living on top of each other. The Greene farmhouse was big but it was not nearly big enough that all twenty of them could fit inside of it very comfortably. Now that they had a secure perimeter fence on at least the farmhouse and some of the surrounding area Tara, Rosita, and Abraham were working on making the stables into livable conditions for some of them. It was slow going since they also had other things with more priority to work on but they had demolished what was left of the chicken coop and were using the wood to make the stables into closed off rooms. They'd be small and Beth was certain that they would always smell of horse manure but no one seemed to mind. The thought of not all being crammed in together was worth it to everyone. 

The day's rain was keeping everyone indoors and they had all seemed to be a bit on edge at first. Having something to do kept everyone's mind off of things so shoving them all back together with nothing to keep them occupied was not going very well for any of them until Carol had unearthed a game of Monopoly from a cupboard. As the game managed to catch some of their attention Beth curled closer to Daryl in the armchair they had squished themselves together in to better read the pages of the book with him. She had taken primary care of Judith when she was first born and for a long time after that but Beth was still nervous about raising a child. She never allowed herself to think too hard on the possibility that she might not be around to raise it. 

Beth was determined to survive childbirth, for her baby, for Daryl and so everyone could be happy about the baby without the sadness of having lost her. She didn't think anyone would handle it very well if what happened to Lori happened to her. Beth found herself thinking of Lori more and more these days. 

Daryl turned the page slowly, giving her time to tell him she wasn't finished reading it but she said nothing. Beth wasn't paying very much attention to the book; she was more entertained by the attempted game of Monopoly being played across the room. 

"Wait so how do I get out of jail?" Carl was asking as he moved the small silver car to the jailhouse square. 

Michonne squinted over the board at him. "You never played this game before? Rick what have you been teaching this child?" 

Rick smiled as Carl began protesting that he wasn't a child before Sasha interrupted by quickly explaining the rules of the game to him as Tyresse laughed at Carl's expression next to her. 

Across the room Maggie and Glenn were sitting in a similar position to Beth and her own husband only Beth could see that the book in their laps was an old picture album. She shifted uncomfortably at the sight of it. It still stung whenever she caught sight of her family's faces in photos. 

Daryl's fingers tightened in her hair as if he could sense her thoughts. Beth felt a twinge of gratitude that Bob had told Daryl he needed to stop going on runs because the stress it caused Beth wasn't good for the baby. Maggie had offered to stop going as well but Glenn and Beth managed to talk her out of it stating that if everyone stopped going on runs because it stressed Beth out, they would run out of supplies very quickly. 

Beth knew how much Daryl hated being cooped up in one place but truthfully, she was grateful that he wasn't going out there anymore. She had felt guilty about it but Daryl insisted that he would do anything to keep her and the baby safe, even if that meant staying at the farm. He found things to occupy his time as there was no shortage of things that needed to be done to the farm. As Beth and Molly (who along with Bob was not allowed out past the fences, the group had risked their doctor on a run before and it had nearly cost Beth's father his life much earlier) prepared the food Beth would watch Daryl from the windows as he walked the perimeter of the fence or helped out with the renovation of the stables. 

Molly had caught her staring out at him walking the fence once and she had sighed wistfully. "This feels almost like Winston." she admitted under her breath. 

Beth had nodded in acknowledgement before she whispered the reassurance she knew was needed. "It won't end up the same way though. Not again." 

The older girl simply kept staring out the window and Beth had followed her line of sight to where Tara was nailing a board into place. "Let's hope not." Molly whispered before turning back to the meal they were making. 

The sound of paper brushing against paper drew Beth back to the present and she smiled as she saw how engrossed in the book Daryl was. She was surprised to find that he was almost to the end of the book, even though Maggie had only brought it back to the farm a few days ago. 

Maggie had brought it up to Beth and Daryl's bedroom where Beth was resting under doctor's orders after nearly passing out in the heat while hanging laundry. Her sister had smiled at her as she settled down next to her on the bed. 

"How are you feeling?" Maggie asked as she reached up to brush the hair from Beth's clammy forehead. 

Beth couldn't help but remember the things they had said to each other the last time they had sat on this bed. "I'm fine." she reassured her as she eased herself into a sitting position with her sister's help. For a moment they simply looked across at each other before Beth leaned forward to pull her sister into a hug, resting her head against Maggie's shoulder. The pregnancy hormones were making every emotion she felt seem far more intense than they used to and right now she was overcome with gratitude for her older sister. 

"Thank you." Beth whispered against the worn cloth of her sister's t-shirt. "For not agreeing with me that day." Beth knew she did not have to remind Maggie of which day she meant. There was only one day she could mean. 

She felt Maggie press a feather light kiss against the top of her head. "I'm so glad you couldn't do it Bethy." she whispered into her hair. "I couldn't have made it this far without you." Her voice choked on the last word. 

"Yes, you could've." Beth promised, knowing in every fiber of her being that those words were true. Her sister was far tougher than she realized. Beth pulled back to smile at her. "But I'm glad you didn't have to." 

Maggie gave her a watery smile before she let out a soft laugh. "I brought you this." she said as she shoved the book into Beth's hands. "Thought you might find it useful." Beth offered her thanks as her sister stood and went to the door. She paused in the doorway as she turned back to face Beth, shifting her weight awkwardly. "I know we've been through Hell." she began, taking a deep breath as she undoubtedly thought back over the past few years and all they had lost. "But I hope you don't regret your choice." 

As Beth's eyes took in the sight of her family and friends laughing in the front room of her family's home: Maggie and Glenn laughing over the memories caught in those photos, Roland trying to get Judith to understand how to play cars, Sasha leaning back against Bob laughing as Tyresse bought more hotels than he could possibly need for one square, Carl groaning about his confusion of the game, Sarah attempting to teach Luke and Eugene to knit while Carol watched on near in tears from laughter at their struggles, Rick and Michonne teasing each other across the game board, Molly and Tara head's close together as they whispered, the sight of Rosita and Abraham through the window at the fence, the warmth of Daryl's arm around her and their child kicking lightly against her hand Beth knew that the answer she had given Maggie was still true, no matter what they had gone through and no matter what might still be to come. 

"Never." 

"So, have you two decided on a baby name yet?" Sasha asked curiously as she spooned her last bite of stew into her mouth. 

Daryl looked across the room at Beth where she stood drying the dishes that Maggie passed her. Beth's belly was now too large for her to stand close enough to the sink to do the washing herself. She smiled at him softly before shaking her head. 

"Daryl says we should name her Little Asskicker 2.0." Beth told the others with a grin causing Daryl to roll his eyes. There was a time being reminded of the day they joked about baby names and he built the crib for their child would have hurt them. Would have reminded them of the sanctuary that they had lost. But not now, not now that they were the safest they had been in a long time. Not now that their family was around them, laughing at his joke of a name for their child. 

"Do you think it's a girl?" Carl asked excitedly as he wiped off food from Judith's face. She was just getting old enough to eat some of what they ate instead of constantly having to suck down formula and mashed up food. Which was good because formula was getting harder to find these days and what they did find no one wanted to give all of it to Judith. No one would say it out loud but they were all afraid that they would need it after Beth had the baby. Daryl liked to tell himself it was in case she wasn't able to breastfeed (he had read in the book Maggie brought them that some women had trouble getting the baby to latch) but he knew just as well as anybody that they were saving the formula just in case Beth didn't make it. 

"We don't know what sex the baby is." Beth said as she finished drying the dishes and carefully made her way across the room to where Daryl sat fashioning bolts for his crossbow out of wood. "All we want is for the baby to be healthy." 

Daryl looked over at her as she sank down into the chair next to him. That statement wasn't entirely true, he also wanted for her to live. He saw Rick giving him a mournful look so Daryl quickly looked back down at his arrows. If he didn't think about the possibility of something going wrong maybe nothing would. 

Not that that policy had ever worked before in his life. Beth and the baby were the first good things to ever happen to him, not just in this post-apocalyptic world but in his whole life. He wouldn't put it past God, or the universe, or whatever the hell was out there to take both of them away from him in one sweep. 

As though she sensed his thoughts (which sometimes Daryl could swear she did) Beth reached over to quietly to squeeze his knee gently. Daryl took a deep breath before dropping his hand to hers and returning the pressure. 

Bob interrupted the group's sudden heavy silence. "Good news is that everything looks to be going smoothly. Beth and the baby both seem very healthy." Daryl sucked in a deep breath as the old army medic repeated the words he had told them that morning during Beth's daily checkup. Nothing wrong, as far as they could tell. 

Every day when Molly and Bob came to check on Beth they always said the same things, everything was fine and both mother and baby seemed healthy. Despite this, both of the medical personals would often share a troubled look over Beth and finally one day Daryl cornered Molly in the hallway (while he knew that Bob might be easier to break he also knew that he wouldn't give him the answer straight, he would be too worried about what it would do to Daryl). 

Daryl had grabbed the former nurse's arm and pulled her down the stairs as far from Beth's room as they could get. Even though everyone kept telling Beth she could move to a downstairs room to save herself the hassle of walking up and down the stairs a few times a day she simply refused. She never said why but Daryl understood. She had gone so long without being able to sleep in her own room and bed that she wasn't going to let anything stop her from doing so now. 

Molly had struggled to pull her arm away at first but one look at Daryl's face got her to stop. He led them out onto the porch where she finally yanked her arm away to hiss at him. "Enough! What do you want Dixon?" 

He spared her an apologetic look for being so rough with her before his worries transformed once again into anger. "Why do you and Bob always look like you've lying to us?" he finally snapped causing Molly cross her arms and glare at him. 

"We're not lying. Everything looks fine." Daryl kept glaring at her so she finally sighed, running her hands over her face as she shook her head. When she looked back at him Daryl felt like he could see his own worries reflected in her eyes. "Look, neither Bob nor I have ever delivered a baby. Neither of us have even worked extensively with pregnant women! We both know the major things to look for but without equipment and without experience both of us are just going by book!" 

Her frantic words hit Daryl in the chest and he slumped against the wall of the house for a moment. He had thought that might be what was going on but still hearing it confirmed hit him harder than he had expected. While Daryl trusted the two of them with other medical problems, he still wished that at least someone here had delivered a baby where both mother and child had lived. His eyes scanned the farm as though searching for an answer to his problems when his eyes landed on Carol and he straightened up. 

"Carol." her name passed his lips like a lifeline, like the last chance of survival for a drowning man. She hadn't delivered a baby either, but still. "Hershel taught her things to help when Lori was pregnant. She can help." he turned from Carol to look at Molly desperately. He had never felt so out of control. Usually he kept his fears locked away, they were weaknesses that others could exploit you for. He kept his fears wrapped tight to his chest. Daryl had only ever shown his fears to Rick and Beth and it felt weird doing so in front of someone else. But it was for Beth so Daryl pushed past the slight sense of embarrassment he felt at showing he was capable of fear too. 

Molly was already nodding as she looked out to where Carol was tending the crops they had planted. "We know. She's talked to us already." Daryl sucked in a deep breath, feeling slightly stupid for not realizing that. Of course, she had. Carol was part of their family and she would do anything to protect them. A flash of Karen and David's burned bodies flashed through his mind and he shook his head quickly. He had enough things to deal with without adding that memory to the list. 

"If Beth has to deliver the baby with a C-section Carol will be the one to do it. She's practiced on cadavers and is the only one out of all of us who thinks they can do it without hurting Beth or the baby." Molly must have sensed just how fearful Daryl truly was that something was going to happen to his family because she reached over and squeezed his arm gently. "They're going to be _fine_. We got this Daryl. You worrying doesn't help anybody." 

Daryl nodded, feeling ashamed for showing so many emotions in front of her. He straightened, shaking her hand off of his arm as he did so. "Thanks." he muttered, looking away from her as heat rose up his face. The last time he had fallen apart (without punching someone) had been in front of Beth. He wasn't used to letting anyone but her and Rick so far under his skin and he shifted uncomfortably at having done so now. 

"For what?" Molly asked, her brow crinkling in confusion before she turned and bounded down the stairs off the porch. When she reached the end, she turned and fixed him with a glare. "And Daryl, don't manhandle me again." her glare loosened up as the front door eased open and Beth stepped outside, glancing between the two of them curiously. 

Beth looked over at him and Daryl tried to hide the worries he knew were still on his face when he looked back at her. "Are you okay?" she asked softly. 

Daryl took a deep breath before walking towards her, bending to kiss her on the forehead. "Will be." he grunted not mentioning the fact that he would only be okay again once her and the baby had gone through the delivery and were safe. He was used to worrying about losing people in this world. Losing them to walkers or to other assholes but he could not handle worrying about losing them because of such a thing as childbirth. 

Surprisingly it was Michonne's voice that drew him back to the present moment in the kitchen. "Everything will be fine." her voice was as quiet as usual but Daryl had rarely heard her so passionate about something. For a moment he wondered if she had ever had children but the thought passed as quickly as it came. If she had, there was likely a reason she hadn't mentioned them. 

The rest of the day passed by as they always did. Check the fences, help at the stables, eat, make arrows, check the fences, eat again. The monotony of the days didn't really bother Daryl, he was used to days all blurring into one endless one even before all this. He headed up the stairs after his last fence check, easing the door open quietly, sure that Beth was already asleep. 

He was surprised to find that a candle was still flickering on the bedside table and she was curled up in a ball, trying to hold her book closer to the light. She looked up at him when he walked in, the small smile on her face causing his heart to clench. He did not know what he would do if he lost her. She put her book back on the bedside table as he kicked off his boots and socks and walked around to the other side of the bed. 

"Perimeter look okay?" Beth asked, her blue eyes bright on his. Daryl nodded as he suddenly felt overcome by a desire to be close to her. Careful not to jostle her he slipped into the bed reaching over to cup her face in his hands as she looked at him curiously. "What's wro-." 

She stopped in mid word as Daryl leaned down to capture his mouth with his own. Beth made a small noise in the back of her throat before her hands reached up to grip his arms. Her lips felt like fire against his and Daryl reached an arm around her back to carefully pull her closer to his body. He felt the bump of their child pressed to his chest and while he felt like that should make him uncomfortable it only made him want to be closer to her. 

Beth seemed to either be of the same mind or she could sense his sudden desperation because she clutched his shoulders and carefully eased herself over into sitting on his lap. His arms went to snake around her waist as her tongue slipped into his mouth causing him to groan at the contact. 

She giggled against his lips before pulling back slightly to rest her forehead against his. Her big blue eyes were suddenly glued to his and Daryl reached up to run a hand down her back, causing her to shiver. "I've never had sex in here." she whispered softly, so soft Daryl almost didn't hear her even though there were only centimeters separating them. 

He ran his hand down her back again, pressing a quick kiss to her neck. "We can change that." he whispered against her collarbone, smiling as she shivered again. "Would it hurt the baby?" Daryl asked, a flash of panic suddenly settling in as he tried to pull away from her. 

Beth only clung tighter to his shoulders as she shook her head. "No. I asked Molly." she admitted with a blush causing Daryl to groan and flop back against the pillows. Her soft giggle caused him to pry open his eyes and the sight of her sitting on top of him, the candlelight flickering off of her pale skin made him forget his embarrassment at having someone know such a detail about their sex life. 

"Will it hurt you?" he asked softly, sitting back up to stroke her face. Beth sucked in a deep breath and Daryl's eyes were drawn to her chest which had also grown due to the pregnancy. 

"No." she whispered and that was all the encouragement Daryl needed. Gently he eased his arm back around her as he kissed her again. Beth wound her hands into his hair, gasping as his fingers eased beneath the large t-shirt she was wearing for a nightgown. She pulled away from him long enough for him to pull it over her head and throw it off the bed, making sure to toss it in a different direction than the candle. His body already felt like it was on fire at the sight of her bare chest he didn't need an actual fire to deal with. Beth's hands trembled slightly as she went to work on the buttons of his flannel shirt and Daryl caught her hands with his own. She pulled away to look down at him as he unbuttoned the shirt himself before tossing it to the side. 

Beth's fingers eased up his bare torso causing Daryl breaths to speed up a little. It had been a while since they had been so close together. There was always someone interrupting them or something that had to be dealt with first but not tonight. As Beth bent down to press a feather light kiss against the scar that crossed nearly over his heart Daryl promised himself that the farm would have to be on fire to get him to leave this bed. He cast a quick look at their closed bedroom door and decided that if anyone came to get them for anything all they would get in return was either an eyeful or a show. 

Daryl reached between them to cup Beth's bare breasts and she gasped against his lips. As his thumbs began to rub against her nipples she began to kiss her way down his neck before stopping and sucking at his pulse point. 

"Are you trying to mark me?" he grunted into her ear as he felt himself growing hard as she continued to kiss the sensitive spot on his neck. 

Beth gave a soft laugh against his skin, her breath cooling the wetness on his neck. "I thought I already had." she whispered before turning her head to kiss him again. He cupped her face in his hands as her own hands gripped his shoulders and Daryl tried as best as he could to put all of the love he felt for her inside of that kiss. For a moment he forgot about how much he wanted her and could only think about how much he loved her. She pulled away after a minute, resting her forehead against his as they both tried to regain their breath. 

Beth suddenly gave him a sly grin and her hands trailed their way down his chest before coming to rest at the waistband of his jeans. She crooked an eyebrow at him before her fingers deftly snapped open the button. Daryl couldn't help but remember the first time they had sex and how it had taken her much more than one try to get the button undone. 

She eased up onto her knees and began to pull his jeans down. Daryl lifted his hips and reached between them to help her. He hadn't been wearing boxers that day and as he pushed his jeans down off his ankles he found it suddenly unfair that Beth still had any clothes on. 

His fingers hooked around the waistband of her underwear before he slowly began to slip them off. Beth grinned at him before moving off the bed slowly, Daryl opened his mouth to protest but stopped when he saw her simply slipping the small piece of cotton down off her legs. She climbed back over him then, her legs on either side of his hips and Daryl couldn't help but groan at the feeling of her wetness against him. Beth giggled before placing a hand over his mouth. 

She pointed to the wall to the left of them before reminding him. "Maggie and Glenn are in there." 

Daryl rolled his eyes before carefully pulling her hand away. "So? Not like they try to be quiet." Beth flinched at the reminder but as Daryl bent to kiss one of her breasts she had to stifle a moan of her own. As he began to roll his tongue around her nipple she suddenly pushed him away from her. 

"Don't. It's too sensitive." she panted, a blush heating her face. 

Daryl's brow furrowed as he took her hands in his. "Are you okay?" he whispered. Beth nodded frantically. 

"Yes. I just." her blush deepened and the flames flickered strange shadows across her face. "I just want you." she whispered softly. 

Daryl smiled as he closed the distance between them to kiss her. "You already have me." he reminded her as she wound her arms around his neck. They kissed for a moment before Beth's shaking hands made their way down his chest to where their bodies met. Carefully she rose up on her knees again and Daryl dropped his hands to grip her hips as she slowly eased him inside of her. 

He grunted against the feeling of her tight around him and Beth let out a soft gasp as she dropped her head to his shoulder. 

"Alright?" he whispered, barely able to get the one word out. All he wanted to do was thrust into her until both of them were breathless but he knew that he couldn't for fear of hurting the baby or her. 

Beth nodded shakily. "Everything's just so damn sensitive." she whined against his skin causing Daryl to chuckle as he stroked her hips softly. Hearing her swear made his cock twinge inside of her and it felt like he was physically holding himself back from taking her roughly. 

"I'm okay." she reassured him as she straightened and gripped his shoulders, rotating her hips in a slow circle. "It's fine." Daryl did not need any more encouragement as he pulled her face down to his to kiss her. He forced himself to move slowly inside of her, Beth using his shoulders for purchase to raise herself higher before he used his grip on her hips to pull her back down. Going so slow felt like the strangest mix of torture and bliss as Beth panted against his lips. 

She hadn't been lying about everything being sensitive because soon she began panting in the way Daryl recognized as her being close. He slowed down then, wanting to prolong this moment between them. It wasn't even for the blissful feeling of being inside of her again, Daryl wanted to be as close to her as he possibly could while he still had the chance. 

But all good things must come to an end and soon they were both frantically meeting each other, breaths an erratic rush as she suddenly bit out a moan into his shoulder as she began to clench around him. That was all he needed to push him over that last bit of edge and he gasped her name into her ear as his arms wound around her back to clutch her to his chest. 

Beth rested her head on his shoulder as she gasped for breath and Daryl bent his head to kiss her neck. Silently he promised them both that this would not be the last time they were together like this, that she would live through childbirth. 

Daryl didn't know what he would do if she didn't.


	15. Chapter 15

Daryl's arm was draped loosely over Beth's stomach as his breath tickled her hair across her neck. She was happy he was finally in such a deep sleep for once, she had long since grown used to him tossing and turning throughout the nights. She supposed that their earlier activities might have been the cause for him to be sleeping deeper but if that was the case, she couldn't understand why she was suddenly so awake. Usually Beth was able to sleep soundly throughout the night but she had only been asleep for a few hours when she suddenly awoke with a strange fluttering in her stomach. 

Beth turned over onto her back carefully, holding her breath to make sure that her movements did not cause Daryl to wake up. He was still breathing peacefully against her and she turned her head to stare at his face the best she could in the small amount of moonlight shining through the curtains. She rose a hand to softly brush the hair back from his forehead as she surveyed his features. He always looked so at peace while he slumbered, such a vast difference than how he looked while he was awake. Carefully she leaned forward to kiss his forehead before griping his arm in her hand and easing it off of her torso. Slowly, as to not jostle him too much, she carefully clamored out of the bed, the hardwood cold on her bare feet. 

For a moment she stood and simply looked down at her husband, running a hand over her bulging stomach as she did so. Beth felt an uncomfortable stab of pain but as it passed as quick as it came, she chose to ignore it. She stared at Daryl for a few moments more, her thoughts stuck on how much it would surely hurt him if she died in labor like Lori did. Beth wished that there was a way that she would be able to remind him how much she loved him, even if she passed on. She knew Daryl would need that reassurance to keep him going for both him and their child. 

A thought suddenly occurred to her and Beth wondered how she honestly had never thought of it before. Quickly she eased open the drawer of the bedside table and pulled out the small wire bound notebook and a pen she kept inside of it. Careful not to make any noise Beth slipped on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt that judging by the size was Daryl's. 

She padded to the door silently, casting on last look at Daryl before she slipped out of the room. Beth made her way out of the house, carefully avoiding the floorboards she knew from the deepest recesses of her memory creaked. The front door was unlocked and she carefully eased it open, sparing a look at the sleeping forms in the front room of the house before she stepped out into the chilly night air. 

Briefly she considered walking back inside to grab a sweater but she shoved the thought aside as she shut the door behind her. The full moon shone down brightly on the farm and Beth used its light to guide her to the old rocking chair resting on the porch. Easing herself down she flipped the notebook open to a blank page, pressing the pen to it as she wondered what on earth she could possibly write that would make her passing in childbirth any easier. 

The pen pressed deeper into the page and yet no words came to her. Taking a deep breath Beth decided that she would start with an easier letter, the only other letter she thought she would be able to write. In her looping handwriting Beth wrote her sister's name on the top of the page before she paused again. 

What could she say to anyone that would make her loss more bearable? 

For a few minutes she simply sat in silence, the only sounds the soft snores floating through the open windows and the crickets chirping out a happy melody out in the yard. Beth's eyes lifted from the paper as another stab of pain went through her body. She gasped against it but as it passed her eyes fell on the tree just at the edge of their fence. 

A memory struck her then and she lifted the pen to the page again as the words began to flow out of it. 

_Remember when I was a kid and Shawn told me that I couldn't climb trees because I was a girl? So, the first thing that I did was go and climb up as high as I could to prove to him that I was just as tough as the boys. But after I made it up there, I couldn't figure out how to get down so I just sat in that tree crying for hours until you walked underneath and heard me. You tried to calm me down and when that didn't work you climbed up the tree with me and held my hand while we climbed down together._

_You've been holding my hand ever since. Even once I could take care of myself you never stopped protecting me. I'm counting on you to protect my baby and Daryl now. They need you even if they won't say it, because Daryl won't and the baby can't, but they need you. Just like I always have, and always will._

_You asked me a few weeks back if I regretted my choice to live. What I didn't tell you is that it wasn't my choice, not really. It was yours. When I held that piece of mirror in my hand and dragged it across my skin I suddenly heard your voice repeating "You could do that to me?"_

_By now you know the answer to that question, of course I couldn't._

_Don't worry about me, not now. I'll be with Mama and Shawn, and Daddy. And I'm sure Patrica and Lori, Jimmy and T-Dog, everyone we've lost will be there with me too. I'll be fine but we're all going to be counting on you again. Just like I counted on you to get me safe out of that tree I'm going to count on you to keep my baby and my husband safe._

_I know it's going to be tough but I know you're tougher._

_Please Maggie._

_I love you._

Beth took a deep breath as she quietly ripped the page out of the notebook and folded it in half. She pressed the pen to a new blank page and sniffled as she carefully wrote the letters of her husband's name. After that she paused, unsure of where to begin. Finally, she settled on simply being honest with him. 

_I don't know what to say. If I truly am gone then I know that there are no words that will help you get through this. I could write you a hundred letters and still not have said the things I want to say to you. How do I make you believe that I don't regret it? Any of it. Not you, not the baby, nothing. I love you, I think a small part of me has always loved you. It just took us both a long time to realize that._

_You can't blame yourself for this. It's not your fault. **Never** blame yourself for this._

_One day we will see each other again. One day we will all be a family. But I know that it won't be for a very long time. And that's okay. I am willing to wait. It's like I told you that night we burned down the house, you are going to be the last man standing. I'll make sure of it._

_I love you. I love our baby. Look after them, and yourself, for me. You have to keep on living Daryl. For me and for our baby, you have to keep living._

_I love you. I never loved anyone the way I love you._

_The way I will always love you._

Beth ignored another stab of pain to her lower back and abdomen as she looked down at the page through tear filled eyes. Carefully she brushed the stray tear drops off of it and ripped it out of the book before folding it in half. She closed her eyes and let her head fall back against the rocker as she pondered just who would be the best person to give these too. Who could she trust to handle the responsibility of passing on her last words to her loved ones? Her eyes suddenly popped open with a jolt and she stood carefully to scan the perimeter. 

She caught sight of a familiar form and smiled in relief before she made her way slowly across the yard. The grass tickled her feet as another stab of pain caught her half way across the yard. By this point Beth realized what was happening but it only furthered her resolve to get to Rick. It seemed to take years before she finally reached him. He looked back at the sound of her footsteps before walking quickly towards her, the moonlight illuminating his worried face as she approached. 

"Beth, what's wrong? What are you doing out here?" 

She panted as the pain in her stomach hit again, this one worse than the others. The papers crinkled in her hand as her muscles tightened at the pain. 

"I need you to do something for me. It's a lot to ask but..." Beth trailed off suddenly unsure. This might be too much to ask of one person. Maybe she should just leave the letters somewhere they would find them. 

Rick placed his hand on her shoulder, bending down so that he could look her in the eye. "Anything." 

Beth drew a deep breath in through her nose before thrusting the letters towards him. Rick looked down at them, his brow crinkled in confusion before he took them carefully from her hand, straightening the crumpled paper between his palms. 

"If I don't make it." Beth began, her voice suddenly dropping to a whisper. "Give those to Maggie and Daryl. Please." her voice choked on the last word and Rick looked at her before shaking his head. 

"You're going to be fine Beth." Rick reassured her but even in the darkness Beth could see the fear in his eyes as he said it. She smiled softly at him before reaching over to grab the hand not clutching what could very well be her last words. 

"Thank you, Rick. For everything you've done for us. I know it wasn't always easy." Beth shrugged as she looked off in the distance past Rick's shoulder. The farmhouse waited in silence as though it was preparing itself for the noise it knew was coming in just a few short hours. Beth ran her hand over her stomach as she looked back at Rick. "Just in case, I need them to get those letters." 

He shook his head at her as he shoved the letters into his back pocket. Rick scuffed the ground with the toe of his boot before looking back up at her. "You're the best thing that ever happened to him. You know that?" 

A small smile bloomed across Beth's face as she nodded. "I do. Because he was the best thing that ever happened to me too." She had never said the words aloud before but as they passed her lips Beth knew deep in her core that they were true. She would have been able to keep surviving without Daryl after the prison, she knew that, but with him she was able to do more than that. With Daryl beside her she was able to _live_. 

Rick let out a soft humorless laugh before he let go of her hand to rub his hands over his face tiredly. "Beth can I..." he stopped as he suddenly choked on his words. 

Beth knew somehow that Rick was afraid to finish his sentence, that whatever he was about to say was going to hurt. For both of them. Shaking her head at how he could be afraid to ask her something when she had just asked him of the worst favor in the world she whispered. "Anything Rick. For you, anything." 

They stood in silence for a moment before Rick cleared his throat. "If you do die." Rick's voice came out strangled on the word, "Will you tell Lori." he stopped and shook his head at himself before whispering so soft Beth had to strain her ears to hear him. "Will you tell Lori I love her. That Carl loves her." 

Beth's heart ached for the man before her and she reached up to cup his face in her palm, forcing him to look down into her eyes. Rick leaned his chin against her hand, the scruff of his beard scratching her palm and Beth knew it was not her he was seeing in that moment. 

"She already knows Rick." Beth whispered as Rick's eyes slowly eased open and he stared down at her for once not hiding the pain in his eyes. "But I'll tell her just the same." 

"Thank you." he whispered taking her wrist and removing her hand from his face. 

Beth opened her mouth to thank him for being the person to take on the grizzly task of delivering those letters if it was needed when an intense jolt of pain ran through her stomach. Beth cried out as she folded against her belly, Rick's cry of alarm sharp in her ears. She felt liquid rush down her inner thighs and Beth looked up at Rick with wide eyes as she whispered, "My water just broke."


	16. Chapter 16

His eyes opened to darkness and for a moment Daryl was not sure what it was that had drawn him from slumber. He turned over onto his side, determined to catch a few more hours of rest before he took his shift on watch when his hands skimmed over empty cold sheets. Daryl's eyes opened again with a frown and he glanced towards the bathroom door, surprised to see it open. If Beth wasn't in there then where could she be? He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he reached down to where his pants lay discarded on the floor. 

He had just tugged them over his hips when he heard the front door slam open and a short wail that he would have known the source for anywhere. He did not need Rick's frantic cry of "Get Daryl!" to tell him what was happening. He snagged a shirt off of the end of the bed, pulling it hastily over his head as he started for the bedroom door. Just as his hand reached the knob it swung in of its own accord and Carl stood framed in the doorway, all wide eyes and jangly limbs as he stared up at Daryl terrified. 

"The baby's coming." he rushed out in one breath; his voice as unable to disguise his fear as his face. Daryl said nothing as he pushed past him and all but flew down the stairs, only the thought of dragging one of the helpers away from Beth if he got injured stopped him from jumping over the railing completely. 

The sound of Carl rushing down the stairs after him was lost to him as Beth let out another moan. Ignoring everyone waking up in the front room Daryl followed the source of the sound, his heartbeat hammering like a drum in his ears as he skidded into Hershel's old room. Judith stood screaming in her crib in the corner clearly tuned into Beth's pain. Rick was helping Beth lay out onto her father's old bed, the sheets were crumbled halfway on the floor from Carl's mad dash out of it. This was the only bedroom on the first floor and Maggie and Beth had insisted the Grimes family take it because neither of them could stand to be inside of it for very long. 

Daryl froze in the doorway as fear took over him. He did not know if he was supposed to go to her or not. His heart was consumed with both the fear of hurting her and the sight of Beth's face, pale and twisted in pain as Rick propped pillows behind her. She caught a glance of him then over Rick's shoulder and wordlessly she reached her hand out towards him. 

That was all he needed and suddenly Daryl was rushing across the room towards her, clutching her hand as painfully as she grabbed his as he sank down next to her on the bed. Panting, Beth twisted so that she lay heavily against his side instead of the pillows and she let out a groan as she began the breathing technique Sarah had taught her. 

Rick was frantically lighting candles around the room to help make the darkness abide as Bob and Molly both rushed into the room, arms full of medical supplies. The original plan was for Beth to have the baby in her room as per her desire but one look at her showed all of them that there was no way in hell they would get her up those stairs. Daryl wrapped his free arm around Beth's shoulders and stroked her hair as she slowly eased out of her contraction, slumping against him as her body tried to relax. 

Grabbing Judith Rick sped from the room, pulling a fearful eyed Carl out with him. Daryl heard him barking orders for everyone to grab a weapon and get to the fence, that there was bound to be noise and they could not have a walker interrupt them now. Rick glanced back at them once after he said this and Daryl saw the unbridled fear on his face as he looked back into the room. 

"You can do this Beth." he called back, nodding once at Daryl before turning from the room. Beth only nodded in acknowledgment as she fought to regain her breath. 

Daryl brushed her hair back from her face as he watched Sarah reach forward to grab a still screaming Judith from Rick's arms. "I'll watch her and Ro'. Get to the fence." The rest of the world was cut off to them then as Carol darted inside the room, arms full of towels as she kicked the door shut behind her. 

"I'm gonna take your pants off now." Molly informed Beth as she leaned on the bed to help ease the sweats down Beth's legs. Bob set up equipment at the end of the bed, a calm and still look on his face. Daryl saw no sign of the shaking alcoholic in him now nor did he see any sign of the fearful glint in Molly's eyes as she sped around Beth, getting her ready for labor. 

She slipped a pair of rubber gloves on her hands as she moved between Beth's legs. "I need you to open your legs. I have to see how far dilated you are." 

Beth obliged wordlessly as she intertwined her fingers with Daryl's. He turned to kiss the side of her head as he tried to shove his fear to the back of mind. He needed to focus on her right here, right now. If he acknowledged his fears, they would consume him and he needed to be present for Beth. 

Molly pulled back and shot Bob and Carol a glance. "She's already six centimeters." 

"What's that mean?" Daryl snapped as Beth's hands tightened on his. 

"It's nothing bad." Carol appeased him as she washed her hands with the rubbing alcohol Bob passed her. "She can't push until her cervix is at 10 centimeters." 

Daryl nodded as if all of that information meant something to him when in reality all it did was make his heartbeat faster in confusion and terror. Laying on him as she was Beth must have felt his heartbeat's pace increase for she turned her head up to smile at him. 

"Hey." she whispered, making him look down into her wide and surprisingly joyful eyes as she smiled. "We're having a baby." 

Daryl couldn't help but laugh at the expression of near disbelief on her face. "Yeah. That news for you?" 

Beth shook her head and shifted so she was sitting up higher against him. "Feels real now." she admitted in a whisper as Daryl clutched her tighter to his chest, careful to avoid her stomach. 

"Okay we've got everything we might need. Let your body do the work for you Beth. It knows what to do." Bob said calmly as he looked over at Beth who nodded shakily. 

"You weren't kidding when you said it hurts." she whispered before looking over at Carol who reached over to clutch her free hand. 

"I know sweetie. But you're gonna be okay. We're right here." Carol whispered, before sharing a quick look over Beth's head with Daryl. She looked just as scared as he was and it was not lost on him how close Lori and her had been when she died. But Beth wasn't going to die he suddenly promised himself and her. They weren't going to let her. 

Beth nodded, her head lightly bumping Daryl's chin. "I was born in this bed." she whispered softly, causing Daryl's hand to tighten on hers as he vowed that he would not let her die in it. Suddenly she returned the pressure as her whole body tensed and he spotted Bob looking at his watch quickly as Beth began to breath irregularly. 

She let out a low moan of pain before panting, "Maggie. I need Maggie." 

Carol nodded before quickly hopping off the edge of the bed and running out the door. Beth seemed to stay tense longer as the pain of the contraction increased until her body finally loosened up. She sucked in a breath of relief as she let her head flop back against Daryl's shoulder. 

"The contraction lasted fifty seconds." Bob announced before looking up at them. "Once they get to be two minutes apart is when we know that you're ready to start pushing." Bob smiled at them as he paced the front of the room. "You're doing great Beth." 

Beth let out a breathless laugh as Daryl pushed stray strands of hair off of her forehead. "I'm not doing anything yet." 

The door flung open again as a wide-eyed Maggie entered the room, Carol quick behind her. Beth cried out her sister's name, reaching out her free hand which Maggie grabbed immediately as she eased herself down on the other side of Beth. 

"I didn't think you'd want me here." Maggie admitted as she spared a worried look at Daryl. He fought to keep his fears off of his face not wanting for Beth to see them. She had more important things to focus on. 

Beth shook her head quickly. "I always want you with me." a worried look crossed her features then as she looked at her sister. "Can you handle it?" Daryl heard her whisper as he stroked her arm softly. "After Lori can you handle being here?" 

He heard Maggie suck in a deep breath before her eyes seemed to turn to steel and she nodded. "Yes. For you, yes." 

Beth nodded gratefully before her body tensed again as another contraction rode through her. 

"They're three minutes apart." Bob announced as they all waited for Beth to get through it, muttering reassurances under their breath. 

As Beth panted and clenched her teeth against the pain Daryl was suddenly overcome by the memory of Lori, not of how she died but of that day so long ago on the farm when she came to him and told him that Beth was in some kind of shock, that they needed to go find Hershel and the others. He could still feel his barking reply on his tongue, _I'm done looking for people!_ If he only he had known then how much Beth would come to mean to him, what he would put himself through for her, what he would be willing to do to protect her. 

But how was he supposed to protect her from this? 

As they waited out the contractions together, Beth's grip getting tighter with each one, Daryl's mind was suddenly filled to the brim with memories of her. It was as if Beth was all his mind could handle thinking about right now. 

Beth the very first time he ever saw her, standing out in front of the house with her family. Her small blonde form was easy to pass over with everything else going on, even with the blanket of grief she was so clearly wearing. Their time at the farm he never really noticed her, except for the stories of how she had cut her wrist open with a shard of glass. He could see her scar now as her bracelets slipped down her wrist and Daryl found he suddenly loved her for it. He loved her for putting away her pain to spare the ones she loved any more. He loved her for deciding that it was worth the pain to keep living. 

Daryl saw her on the road, a girl slowly coming into herself as she learned what it took to survive in this world off of the sanctuary of her farm. He was there the first time she put an ax through a walker's skull, saw her later when she threw up in the bushes and cried. Daryl never told anyone, never even told her that he had seen that private moment. Never admitted what it had meant to him, that someone could still mourn for these things, for having to kill one of them. He remembered wondering even then if she would have cried for him too. 

He saw her at the prison, firelight dancing of off her face as she sang. He remembered thinking how her voice must surely sound like angels. He saw her cradling Judith in her arms like she was her own daughter, remembered trusting her to look after Carl when his mother died. Daryl saw her spine straighten as she told them that she would go and rescue Maggie and Glenn from the Governor's hands. Remembered how he knew with a startling clarity in that moment that to Beth, her sister's life meant more to her than her own. 

Daryl saw them now, Maggie clutching one of Beth's hands with both of hers as Molly checked how far dilated Beth was again. There were tear tracks on both Greene sisters' faces as Maggie drew Beth's hand to her lips and kissed it. Daryl clutched Beth's other hand tighter at the sight. 

He saw Beth screaming as she watched her father beheaded before her, saw her firing the gun at the Governor's people as she shot to kill. He remembered seeing her as he fled the prison, the only living thing still standing, and he still felt that flash of surprise that she had made it through. It wasn't that he thought she was too weak to make it through that bloodbath it was that he always thought of Beth as the heart of their group. Beth may not have been what kept them all together but she was one of the few of them that kept them whole. Without her and her father they would have all lost more pieces of themselves than could be brought back together. Back then Daryl just couldn't understand how, after their home had been destroyed and they had all been scattered like leaves, how their heart could possibly still be beating. 

He saw Beth again, stalking away from him in the woods and remembered thinking she was going to die out there alone and that he would have to explain it to her sister if he ever saw her again. He saw her crying over bloody remains and at a dusty bar, saw her grimace as she had her first taste of alcohol. He remembered her screaming in his face, squirming beneath him, heard the sound of her voice as she whispered 'I love you' and 'I do.' Remembered her collapsing in his arms as they reunited with the family they had both begun to believe were dead. 

Daryl wound his arm tighter around Beth as she dug her fingernails into his palm as she breathed through another contraction. He twisted his head to bury his face by her ear and whispered words similar to the ones she had screamed at him the day he finally truly saw her, the day he realized that she wasn't just the heart of the group or a dead weight he needed to protect, but a real person and a stronger one than any of them had ever given her credit for. 

"You'll make it." he breathed against her ear as she groaned against the pain. "You've always made it." he repeated as Molly stationed herself between Beth's legs. 

"You're dilated enough." she announced as she shared a fearful look with Bob and Carol who readied themselves beside her. "When you start feeling the need to push you can push." 

Beth nodded as she struggled to regain her breath. Daryl watched as she turned to face her sister, who stared back at her with tears in her eyes that she tried furiously to blink away. "I love you." Beth whispered, causing Maggie to shake her head. 

"Don't act like this. You're gonna be fine." Maggie's voice broke on the last word and she clutched Beth's hand tighter as Daryl's heart began to beat a bruise on his rib cage. Beth had to be fine. She just had to be. For all of them. 

"Just in case." Beth whispered; her voice startlingly calm. "I love you." Maggie let out a quiet sob before nodding and returning the words, removing one of her hands from Beth's to wipe at the tear tracks on her face. 

Beth twisted her neck to face Daryl then, her eyes wide and earnest on his. "I've never loved someone the way I love you." she didn't whisper this time, her voice felt loud in the stillness of the room. Normally Daryl would have felt uncomfortable at such an admission in front of other people but this was not a normal situation. 

Pushing away the thought of the others in the room Daryl pressed his forehead tightly to Beth's, which was sticky with sweat. "I never would have survived out there without you." he returned as she rose her head to press a feather light kiss against his mouth before she pulled back with a groan, her hand clenching his like a lifeline. 

"Push now Beth." Bob said as he grabbed a cloth and leaned forward to dab at the sweat on Beth's face. 

Daryl saw the muscles in Beth's neck strain as she did as she was told, his heart freezing in terror as she suddenly let out a bloodcurdling scream. 

Molly quickly looked between Beth's legs again but she did not seem to be worried by what she saw there. "Everything's fine. It's just normal pain." she reassured as Maggie whimpered and Beth gave a wild laugh. 

"You call this normal?!" she cried out before she screamed again, her body spasming as she tried to fold in on herself. Daryl's eyes widened in fear and he saw Carol go around by Beth's feet where both she and Molly clamped hands down on Beth's legs to prevent her from rolling up again. 

He saw the blood on Molly's hands and he let out a strangled gasp. Beth was injured, something was wrong and they weren't telling them. She wasn't going to make it; he just knew it. 

As always, Beth sensed his thoughts because she let go of his hand to clench the front of his shirt, pulling him down to glare into his eyes. Her eyes were wide and wild with pain and fear. She let out another low groan before she returned her glare on him. 

"I've told you before." Beth panted. "Don't look at me like I'm just another dead girl." 

Daryl shook his head as he stared back at her flushed face. "Never." he managed to choke out before she turned back to lean against his chest, crying out as if she was being torn apart from the inside. 

Daryl would have given anything at that moment to get her to stop screaming, given anything to ease her pain as she cried and lashed out. Maggie and him clung tight to her hands, everyone constantly telling her she was doing great. Daryl kept his mouth glued next to her ear and almost breathlessly repeated, "I love you I love you I love you." as though he needed to get it out as many times as he could while he still had the chance. In between screams she would return the words, sometimes softly and sometimes not. Daryl found he no longer cared what anyone might think or say about them. 

The sun had risen by the time Molly announced that she could see the head, both her and Bob donning fresh pairs of gloves as Carol placed a cool wet cloth on Beth's forehead. The early light of dawn flooded the room with grey light as Carol quickly went and blew out all the candles, no matter what was happening they needed to conserve those. 

As long as the rest of the birthing process felt the last part felt like it passed in no time at all. Beth screamed a few more times as everyone cheered her on and finally, she gave one last heart wrenching cry before slumping back against Daryl's chest. Daryl saw Molly pulling the baby the rest of the way out with a joyous laugh as she quickly moved it to rest on Beth's stomach. Daryl stared at their child as a feeling of unknown joy filled him before he glanced back at Beth slumped against him. His heart froze for one agonizingly long second until she suddenly let out a shaking laugh and reached down for their baby who had started to cry. 

Daryl could count the number of times he had cried on one hand but as Bob handed him his hunting knife to cut through the umbilical cord, he found his vision had become blurred by tears. The knife slit through the cord quickly and Carol quickly cleared the mucus off of the baby's nose and mouth and wrapped it in a small blanket before passing the child over to Beth, who let go of Daryl's and Maggie's hands to take the baby with shaking arms. 

"It's a boy." Molly said as she sat back on the foot of the bed with a grin. 

Maggie let out a laugh as Beth and Daryl smiled down at their son. He was red and wrinkly and covered with mucus and fluids and Daryl had never seen something so beautiful. Silently he made a promise then and there that he would never hurt his little boy like his father hurt him, nor would he ever let anyone else hurt him either. Beth looked up at Daryl then with a smile. 

"You want to hold him?" she whispered softly, causing Daryl to nod erratically before reaching over to take their son's small form with trembling hands. Beth rested her head tiredly against his shoulder and he stared down at the face of their little boy, tears dripping off of his face to land on his son's smooth one. 

"He's beautiful." Daryl managed to get out, moving one of his hands to touch his son's tiny one. His mind couldn't seem to wrap itself around the fact that he was now a father, that he had a son, that both his son and wife had just survived. 

"I think he has your nose." Beth whispered in return as she reached up a hand to stroke the dark hair matted to their baby's head. "Thank you." she suddenly said, looking at everyone in the room as Daryl nodded, unable to get his voice to form the words to express the gratitude he felt. 

"Anytime." Bob said as he smiled over at the three of them before stepping out of the room to go tell everyone it was over and that both mother and baby were alive and healthy. 

Molly pulled the blanket up over Beth's bare legs as she shook her head. "That's a straight up lie. This was a onetime thing you hear me?" but she smiled at them when she said it and squeezed Beth's knee through the blankets. Carol only smiled at the three of them as she wiped the tears off of her face. 

"What d'ya want to name him?" he finally got out as they stared down at their son who was now blinking bright blue eyes up at them. 

Beth shifted against him and Daryl managed to tear his eyes from their little boy to look over at her. Even with the sweat matting her hair to her flushed face she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She bit her lip and looked around the room before her eyes settled on Maggie who was staring at her nephew with a look of pure joy as she ran a slim finger down his cheek. 

"I was thinking maybe Hershel." Beth finally whispered as she looked back down at their son. Maggie drew in a sharp breath and Beth immediately shook her head. "We don't have to I just thought..." 

"Hershel is a fine name." Daryl interrupted her with a grunt, meaning it from his core. He would be honored to have their son share the same name as her father. 

He saw Maggie nodding from the corner of his eye before she leaned over to kiss Beth's cheek. "Daddy would be so proud of you." she whispered, causing Beth to smile. 

"What about a middle name?" Carol asked as she helped Molly clean everything off of the end of the bed. 

"Does he need one?" Daryl asked as he watched with a joy he had never felt before as his son slowly wound his tiny hand around one of his fingers. 

"Actually..."Beth trailed off and Daryl looked back at her to see her give him a small sad smile before whispering. "What about Merle?" 

Daryl felt his heart seize at the mention of his older brother and he suddenly wished very much that Merle was here right now, making some crass joke about seeing Beth without her pants on before he pulled all of them into a hug and congratulated them. He knew Merle had his faults, more than most people, but he was still his family and his blood. Despite everything that had happened between them both before and after the world went to shit, he was still the only family member Daryl ever really loved. He could remember Merle scraping dirt off of his knees when Daryl had fallen while chasing after a ball, could remember him going on hunting trips with him, teaching him how to survive. Maybe some people wouldn't like to be reminded of his brother by hearing it in his son's name but Beth's words for weeks prior suddenly rang in his mind. _He's your brother. You loved him so he deserves to be here too._

Daryl ignored the slightly uncomfortable looks on Carol and Maggie's faces as he looked over at Beth, "You sure?" he asked, swallowing harshly. She might have only offered it to be nice. He had to give her an out for this. "The names don't really go together." 

Beth let out a soft laugh before she leaned up to kiss him softly. "Neither did we at first." 

Daryl shook his head at her in wonder, he could never imagine what he had done to deserve such an amazing woman as Beth Greene. The door flew open then and Carl ran into the room with Roland fast on his heels. Both stared in wonder at the baby that Daryl was holding, Carl reaching down to lift Roland against his hip so that he could better see them. 

"Why is he pink?" the little boy whispered causing Daryl to chuckle as Beth laughed. Carl leaned down to hug them both, pressing a quick kiss against the baby's forehead as Daryl watched over his shoulder as their family poured into the small room. 

Glenn came over to clap him on the shoulder before kissing Beth on the forehead and running his finger softly down the baby's cheek before Maggie came to him and he pulled her into a tight hug. Tyresse shook Daryl's hand before telling Beth how great she did, staring at the small baby who looked to be as big as one of his hands. Sasha did the same as her brother although she stared at their son with a look of pure wonder on her face before going over to Bob who smiled at her softly as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. 

Luke told them he felt bad he didn't have any cigars to pass out and that they did a damn fine job on their kid. Sarah stroked the dark hair on the baby's forehead as she told them congratulations. Michonne blinked tears from her eyes as she kissed all three of them on the forehead before quickly walking away to the corner of the room. Eugene awkwardly told them congratulations from the doorway while Rosita and Abraham stood over them and gooed at the baby. Daryl never thought he would see Abraham make baby noises. Tara, who still felt awkward around most of them from the prison told them they made a cute baby before she went to stand next to Molly who slumped against her tiredly as Tara wrapped her arms around her waist. 

Finally, Rick came to them, pulling two folded pieces of paper from his back pocket and passing them to Beth who took them with shaking fingers. 

"I am so glad these weren't needed." he whispered to her as Daryl's brow crinkled in confusion. Rick clapped him on the shoulder then, bending to pull him into a one-armed hug being extra careful of the baby in his arms. He leaned across him to kiss Beth's forehead and she clenched his hand with a soft smile. 

"Thank you." she whispered as she tucked the letters under the pillow next to her. Daryl had a feeling he would never truly know what that was about. 

"What did you name him?" Carl asked as he grinned, a smiling Judith now held in his arms. 

"His name is Hershel Merle Dixon." Beth told them all proudly as she curled against Daryl's side, her fingers stroking their son's face as he looked up at all of them in wonder. 

"That is a good strong name." Rick said as he clapped Daryl on the shoulder again. 

"With a name like that in a few years he's gonna be the toughest son of a bitch out here." Glenn spoke with a laugh as Maggie tucked her head against his shoulder. 

The others quickly joined in on the laughter and Daryl surveyed the joyful room around him with a wonder that was likely equivalent to his son's. Beth burrowed deeper against his side, whole and alive, and their son was seeing the world for the first time from the safety of his arms. Daryl turned his head to press a kiss against Beth's hair and looked out at the people in the room surrounding them, joy radiating from them all. 

Maybe there would never be a cure for the way the world was now, maybe the farm wouldn't always be safe, and maybe they didn't know what tomorrow would bring but at this moment none of that mattered. They were all alive, they were all safe, they were all happy and they had each other. 

And for right now, that was more than enough.


End file.
